Your Second Half of 2020 When we were kids and we were learning how to play a game or a sport, we didn’t know what to do. We sometimes asked for a do-over. Most of us would feel the same way about 2020 up to… Continue reading “Your Second Half of 2020”
NABCEP to Offer Online Certification Exams Update 6/16/2020: Live Online Proctoring is now available for all NABCEP Board Certification and Associate credentialing exams. Due to concerns about the COVID-19 emergency, NABCEP has decided to offer all Board Certification and Associate level exams through live online proctoring (LOP).… Continue reading “NABCEP to Offer Online Certification Exams”
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”
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”
HeatSpring is the Official Training Platform Provider for DOE Solar District Cup 2020 HeatSpring for Groups is proud to announce we are working with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office to provide our industry leading professional training content and educational platform to the participants of the U.S. Department of… Continue reading “HeatSpring is the Official Training Platform Provider for DOE Solar District Cup 2020”
New NABCEP Recertification Requirements Now In Effect NABCEP’s new recertification requirements totaling 30 hours of CEU credits and updated industry involvement requirements have officially taken effect. NABCEP updated their requirements on January 1, 2019 but allowed for a 12 month transition period which has now expired. Visit… Continue reading “New NABCEP Recertification Requirements Now In Effect”
Solar Optimization in 2020 Where are you and solar heading next year? After five days of networking and education in Salt Lake City at the solar conference, a recurring theme emerged. This was across all segments of the solar industry and touched others as… Continue reading “Solar Optimization in 2020”
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”
Join us at the Oregon Solar Energy Conference The Oregon Solar Energy Conference is the most robust regional solar energy conference in the nation, and returns to Portland, Oregon this year May 7-9. They will continue with their dedicated contractor day on May 7th, in coordination with the… Continue reading “Join us at the Oregon Solar Energy Conference”
How the Wrong Roof or Warranty Can Undermine a Solar PV Project In a distributed generation project involving solar PV, identifying the status of the roof and the details of its warranty is critical, says Chris Lord, instructor of HeatSpring’s Solar Executive MBA Training course. If solar installers don’t do their homework,… Continue reading “How the Wrong Roof or Warranty Can Undermine a Solar PV Project”
Managing the Moving Targets of Getting a Solar Power Purchase Agreement Signed Getting a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed for a solar project requires juggling numerous tasks–all of them moving targets, says Chris Lord, instructor of HeatSpring’s Solar Executive MBA Training course. It’s not easy to maneuver through this process and rope… Continue reading “Managing the Moving Targets of Getting a Solar Power Purchase Agreement Signed”
Do Your Financial Modeling for Solar, and Keep Your Eye on What Qualifies for the ITC When you’re creating financial models for solar projects, it’s important to understand what qualifies for the solar investment tax credit (ITC), says Chris Lord, instructor of HeatSpring’s Financial Modeling for Solar PV course. And it’s also critical to begin your modeling… Continue reading “Do Your Financial Modeling for Solar, and Keep Your Eye on What Qualifies for the ITC”
3 Lessons I Learned From Collaboration It was early 2002 and the idea of a solar PPA was in its infancy. I got an email from a guy from BP Solar seeing if I was interested in buying some solar panels. His name was Jigar Shah.… Continue reading “3 Lessons I Learned From Collaboration”
How to sell a utility scale solar project There is constant interest from developers looking to sell their solar projects. How can you get a piece of this lucrative opportunity and help wean us all off of dirty fossil fuels? Solar development breaks down into three essential steps:… Continue reading “How to sell a utility scale solar project”
How Mineral Rights Can Kill Your Solar Farm Deal There is probably nothing more frustrating than spending months talking to land owners and learning late in the program that the deal is dead. How much did you invest in time and money knocking on doors and drumming up engineering… Continue reading “How Mineral Rights Can Kill Your Solar Farm Deal”
Why You Should Embrace Solar Financial Modeling and Avoid Guesswork “People often have a tendency to make decisions based on unverified instincts and outright guesswork – because it’s quick,” says Chris Lord, instructor of HeatSpring’s Financial Modeling For Solar PV Projects class. Too often, those instincts and guesswork land developers in less-than-… Continue reading “Why You Should Embrace Solar Financial Modeling and Avoid Guesswork”
Avoid These Mistakes When Developing Solar Projects It’s easy to make mistakes when developing solar projects—and just one goof can lead to other goofs, extra costs, and wasted time. That’s the word from Keith Cronin and Chris Lord, instructors for HeatSpring’s Solar Executive MBA Training course, which… Continue reading “Avoid These Mistakes When Developing Solar Projects”