New Course: National Flagger Certification HeatSpring has launched a new National Flagger Certification course, part of the HeatSpring CORE: Comprehensive Construction Trades curriculum, designed to prepare flaggers for one of the most high-stakes roles on any job site: standing between moving traffic and the crew… Continue reading “New Course: National Flagger Certification”
New Free Course: 10 Utility-Scale Solar Defects Hiding in Plain Sight Every defect in utility-scale solar construction is cheap exactly once – at the moment it’s installed. After that, the price goes up. A missed refusal on a pile drive log, a connector that “clicked, sort of,” a bonding clamp that… Continue reading “New Free Course: 10 Utility-Scale Solar Defects Hiding in Plain Sight”
NABCEP Opens Nominations for the 2027 Walt Ratterman Award and Les Nelson Scholarship NABCEP has opened applications for two of their longest-running community awards: the Walt Ratterman Award and the Les Nelson Scholarship Fund for Volunteers. Both honor people who gave their time and skills to renewable energy causes, and both come with… Continue reading “NABCEP Opens Nominations for the 2027 Walt Ratterman Award and Les Nelson Scholarship”
How Standards Harmonization Is Making Energy Storage Easier to Permit and Inspect Article 706 on energy storage systems didn’t undergo sweeping changes in the 2026 NEC, but what did shift is worth noting, especially for anyone who has found the permitting and inspection side of ESS work frustrating. Rebekah Hren of Solar… Continue reading “How Standards Harmonization Is Making Energy Storage Easier to Permit and Inspect”
Why Article 130 on Energy Management Systems Just Moved to the Front of the NEC Not every significant change in the 2026 NEC is about new requirements or revised language. Sometimes the signal is in where an article ends up in the code book. Article 750 on energy management systems spent years tucked toward the… Continue reading “Why Article 130 on Energy Management Systems Just Moved to the Front of the NEC”
New Free Course: Rapid Shutdown Devices and Safety Risks If you install, inspect, or maintain commercial PV systems, this new course is worth your time – it’s free, and it was recently approved for 1 NABCEP CEU. We just launched Rapid Shutdown Devices and Safety Risks, a new self-paced… Continue reading “New Free Course: Rapid Shutdown Devices and Safety Risks”
New HeatSpring Art, Inspired by the Work of Richard Scarry You’re going to start noticing new artwork on HeatSpring – a caterpillar in a hard hat tightening a bolt, an owl troubleshooting a BESS, a lamb and a possum building solar racking. The artwork is new, but the idea behind… Continue reading “New HeatSpring Art, Inspired by the Work of Richard Scarry”
Meet Chloe Weise – Instructor Spotlight HeatSpring courses are only as strong as the instructors who create them, and we’re excited to introduce a new one to the platform. Chloe Weise brings a background that spans Evolutionary Biology, Bioinformatics, software engineering, and commercial real estate operations… Continue reading “Meet Chloe Weise – Instructor Spotlight”
Power Control Systems Just Made Load Calculations a Lot Less Painful Doing load calculations can be a bit of a slog. Adding up the water heater, the dishwasher, the EV charger, and all the other loads, then working through the math for branch circuits, feeders, and services – it’s typically not… Continue reading “Power Control Systems Just Made Load Calculations a Lot Less Painful”
Your Guide to Renewing Your NABCEP Certification Recertification season has a way of sneaking up on you. One minute your NABCEP is brand new, the next you’re getting an email that your three years are almost up. The good news is that if you get ahead of… Continue reading “Your Guide to Renewing Your NABCEP Certification”
What Hiring Managers in Solar Want to See on Your Resume A lot of solar job seekers assume silence after an application means they weren’t qualified. Sometimes it just means the resume didn’t land the way it should have. Janet Gomez has spent 15 years in recruiting, eight of them specializing… Continue reading “What Hiring Managers in Solar Want to See on Your Resume”
Meet Jason Brozen – Instructor Spotlight Decades in the electrical industry will teach you things no classroom can. Jason Brozen has spent years in the field, working his way from the audio/video side of construction to Master Electrician, and eventually to his current role as Safety… Continue reading “Meet Jason Brozen – Instructor Spotlight”
What Is a Power Control System (PCS) and Why Does It Matter for Solar and Storage Installers? Power control systems are showing up more and more in solar, storage, and electrical infrastructure, but some practitioners haven’t encountered the term yet. Brian Mehalic breaks down what a PCS actually is and why it’s worth understanding now. Essentially, a… Continue reading “What Is a Power Control System (PCS) and Why Does It Matter for Solar and Storage Installers?”
Win a Free Ticket to the Mayfield Renewables Education Summit 2026 We’re giving away one ticket to the Mayfield Renewables Education Summit 2026 (valued at up to $675), and all it takes to enter is an active HeatSpring PRO subscription. How to Enter If you’re already a HeatSpring PRO subscriber, you’re… Continue reading “Win a Free Ticket to the Mayfield Renewables Education Summit 2026”
The Missing Piece Between Hard Work and Career Growth In the solar trades, your work speaks for itself, or so the thinking goes. Jesse Callahan, Founding Director of Operations at Ironhead Solar, learned that’s not always true. Like many of us, she spent years believing that hard work was… Continue reading “The Missing Piece Between Hard Work and Career Growth”
The 2029 NEC Is Going to Look Very Different. Here’s What’s Coming. The 2026 National Electrical Code (NEC) revision cycle has come and gone, but the work of the code-making panels never really stops. The 2029 cycle is already well underway, public inputs have been submitted, and task groups are working through… Continue reading “The 2029 NEC Is Going to Look Very Different. Here’s What’s Coming.”
New Course: Foundational Concepts in Renewable Energy Bringing someone new onto your team or crew means getting them up to speed fast. Some foundational training skips the basics that experienced folks take for granted – things like what a kilowatt hour actually means, or how DC and… Continue reading “New Course: Foundational Concepts in Renewable Energy”
Common SCADA Problems O&M Teams Inherit and How to Fix Them When an O&M team takes over a utility-scale solar project, they’re inheriting whatever SCADA system the construction team left behind – for better or worse. Unfortunately, there can be loose connections, misconfigured device IDs, missing documentation, and more. These are… Continue reading “Common SCADA Problems O&M Teams Inherit and How to Fix Them”
Celebrating Top Solar Companies: Cam Services Finding qualified solar workers has become one of the more persistent challenges in the industry. Cam Services, a Colorado-based company, has spent the last several years building one of the more thoughtful approaches to solving it: a Department of Labor… Continue reading “Celebrating Top Solar Companies: Cam Services”
New Course: Compliant Solar Array Wiring Bootcamp Wire management is the most common deficiency Janet Hughes has seen across thousands of solar installations. She’s just launched her new “Complaint Solar Array Wiring Bootcamp” course to fix that. Janet Hughes has been in the solar industry since 1988,… Continue reading “New Course: Compliant Solar Array Wiring Bootcamp”