Solar Legend Lends Expertise to HeatSpring Courses with Sean White Solar legend Bill Brooks has partnered with HeatSpring instructor Sean White to prepare new materials for some of White’s courses that train students to take NABCEP exams. Brooks, who calls himself an ambassador for solar technology, is an engineer with… Continue reading “Solar Legend Lends Expertise to HeatSpring Courses with Sean White”
Bringing More PV Online with Power Control Systems If you’re a PV solar producer who is not home for a week, the PV may fill up your battery storage and send too much current to the grid, possibly violating NEC or other rules. If this is likely to… Continue reading “Bringing More PV Online with Power Control Systems”
Best Practices for Hiring, Training and Retaining Installation Crews A major challenge for renewable energy companies right now is a labor crunch; it’s hard to line up workers and salespeople in the industry, says Ryan Carda, principal engineer, Dandelion Energy, whose company uses HeatSpring for Groups courses to prepare… Continue reading “Best Practices for Hiring, Training and Retaining Installation Crews”
Energy Modeling with the Latest Update to ASHRAE’s Standards The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has implemented a new update that will ultimately make energy modeling simpler, says Chris Schaffner, instructor for HeatSpring’s Energy Modeling in eQUEST course. ASHRAE’s standard 90.1, which covers energy codes,… Continue reading “Energy Modeling with the Latest Update to ASHRAE’s Standards”
More Cities and Towns Calling for Energy Modeling to Address Climate Change With the federal government’s lack of movement on climate change, more cities and towns are stepping up and focusing on ways to address climate change, says Chris Schaffner, instructor for HeatSpring’s Energy Modeling in eQUEST course. That means that the… Continue reading “More Cities and Towns Calling for Energy Modeling to Address Climate Change”
Not All Lithium Ion is the Same in Energy Storage Systems Not all lithium ion is the same in the batteries that make up energy storage systems, says Wes Kennedy, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar Plus Storage course. “Chemistry matters,” he says. “Lithium ion is a huge catch-all term for about… Continue reading “Not All Lithium Ion is the Same in Energy Storage Systems”
Creating a Flexible Financial Model that Incorporates the ITC Changes It’s not unusual for people in a rush to hard wire some information into the formulas of their financial models for solar projects, says Chris Lord, instructor of HeatSpring’s Solar Executive MBA Training course along with co-instructor Keith Cronin. But… Continue reading “Creating a Flexible Financial Model that Incorporates the ITC Changes”
Solar Plus Storage is Creating Islands of Resiliency in Communities and Businesses A large portion of Puerto Rico was blacked out after earthquakes in early January, but solar plus storage systems helped keep power flowing in many schools that served as community shelters. Wes Kennedy, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar Plus Storage… Continue reading “Solar Plus Storage is Creating Islands of Resiliency in Communities and Businesses”
A Shared Training Experience for Groups of Employees in Solar Companies Ben Ellis, field service manager for Solect Energy, says a major challenge for his company is keeping employees up to date on the rapidly changing solar industry. The best way to keep his team prepared for change is through education,… Continue reading “A Shared Training Experience for Groups of Employees in Solar Companies”
Coming Soon: Ordering Modular Energy Storage to Meet Electricity Demand When Guests Visit In the near future, energy storage will be modular, and you’ll be able to order or rent energy storage modules when your electricity needs increase, if you have guests, for example. You’ll likely pair the battery storage with solar PV… Continue reading “Coming Soon: Ordering Modular Energy Storage to Meet Electricity Demand When Guests Visit”
Why Peak Shaving Using Energy Storage is a Good Idea Companies can pay high “demand charges” from utilities for using large amounts of energy during their monthly billing cycle. But they can lower these demand charges through solar and strategic use of storage, says Christopher Lord, instructor, along with Keith… Continue reading “Why Peak Shaving Using Energy Storage is a Good Idea”
Adopting the “Minnesota Nice” Model to Collaborate with Utilities for a Win-Win Over Solar-Plus-Storage Utilities often try to stop or slow solar-plus-storage projects at the Public Utility Commissions, says Christopher LaForge, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar Plus Storage course. In one such effort, We Energies, Wisconsin’s largest utility, increased its fee for connecting to… Continue reading “Adopting the “Minnesota Nice” Model to Collaborate with Utilities for a Win-Win Over Solar-Plus-Storage”
Interested in Offering Energy Storage? Demand is High, Prices Dropping California’s recent public safety power shutoffs have sparked a sometimes desperate demand for batteries from utility customers who want backup power. That has helped lower battery prices, making them more affordable for homeowners and businesses, says Sean White, instructor for… Continue reading “Interested in Offering Energy Storage? Demand is High, Prices Dropping”
Three Solar Industry Trends for Beginners–and Some Important Perspective on Them If you’re new to the solar industry, you should keep an eye on three trends, says Sean White, instructor of HeatSpring’s 58-hour NABCEP Advanced Solar PV Training Series. With prices of solar and energy storage dropping, it’s easy to get… Continue reading “Three Solar Industry Trends for Beginners–and Some Important Perspective on Them”
Avoid These Three Silly Mistakes about Solar–and Escape Embarrassment When you’re discussing the details of a solar energy system, it’s easy to slip up in embarrassing ways. Even solar company CEOs commit common mistakes, says Sean White, instructor of HeatSpring’s 58-hour NABCEP Advanced Solar PV Training Series. His courses… Continue reading “Avoid These Three Silly Mistakes about Solar–and Escape Embarrassment”
Helping Non-Profits Understand the Urgency of the Solar Tax Credit Phase-Out It’s vital that non-profits understand the urgency of the phase-out of the federal solar tax credits, says Keith Cronin, co-instructor for HeatSpring’s Solar Executive MBA Training course. Because non-profits tend to be cautious, don’t focus on tax credits, and move… Continue reading “Helping Non-Profits Understand the Urgency of the Solar Tax Credit Phase-Out”
How Can NGOs Access Valuable Federal Solar Tax Credits? Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are nonprofit entities that operate independently of any government, aren’t able to directly utilize federal tax credits available for solar, says Chris Lord, instructor of HeatSpring’s Solar Finance Masters Series and other courses. Here’s the problem: By… Continue reading “How Can NGOs Access Valuable Federal Solar Tax Credits?”
Encouraging Non-Profits to Bring Solar PV to their Communities Requires Education, Patience Solar developers and contractors are in the unique position of being able to educate non-profit organizations about solar energy and bring its benefits to their communities, says Keith Cronin, an instructor for numerous HeatSpring courses and founder of SunHedge. “The… Continue reading “Encouraging Non-Profits to Bring Solar PV to their Communities Requires Education, Patience”
With Inexpensive PV, These Three Strategies are no Longer Solar Sins Ten years ago, solar PV cost 10 times more than what it does now. That means solar installers can now embrace three strategies that were once considered solar sins. That’s the word from Sean White, instructor of HeatSpring’s 40-Hour Solar Advanced PV… Continue reading “With Inexpensive PV, These Three Strategies are no Longer Solar Sins”
How to Tackle the Difficult Task of Sizing Wires in Your Solar Arrays It’s not so easy to size wires in solar arrays, says Sean White, instructor of HeatSpring’s NABCEP PV Installation Professional Certification Exam Prep and CEUs course. The problem: the National Electrical Code (NEC) can be befuddling. His courses that focus on… Continue reading “How to Tackle the Difficult Task of Sizing Wires in Your Solar Arrays”