We Need More Utility-Scale Solar PV Designers Engineers…we need you. You can spend your whole career working in solar energy and never get bored. Climate change is the biggest problem you could tackle and you’ll never have trouble finding interesting work to do. Let’s zoom out and… Continue reading “We Need More Utility-Scale Solar PV Designers”
Here Come the Heat Pump Water Heaters! The U.S. heat pump water heater (HPWH) market has doubled in the last five years, and the DOE expects HPWHs to increase from 3% to 61% of the electric water heater market in the coming years. That means going from… Continue reading “Here Come the Heat Pump Water Heaters!”
An Incubator for Home Performance Contractors “Boosting Contractor Capacity to Meet Home Performance Demand” is a live webinar that will happen on Wednesday August 14th @ 1pm eastern (USA). The edited presentation will then be available here as a free course. We are going to present a… Continue reading “An Incubator for Home Performance Contractors”
REAP Grants Can Cover 50% of Eligible Solar Project Costs – So Who’s Eligible? For solar sales professionals, it’s essential to stay informed about the various incentives and programs available to help your customers make the switch to solar energy. One program that is particularly beneficial for farmers and rural small business owners is… Continue reading “REAP Grants Can Cover 50% of Eligible Solar Project Costs – So Who’s Eligible?”
Interconnection of Renewables to Electric Transmission: Insights from Industry Expert Tim Taylor Tim Taylor is a HeatSpring instructor who focuses on utility transmission and distribution systems, and the interconnection of renewables to those systems. We recently asked Tim a few questions about two new courses that he has been developing. Tim’s new… Continue reading “Interconnection of Renewables to Electric Transmission: Insights from Industry Expert Tim Taylor”
A Brief History of Transmission Legislation in the United States The electricity industry in the United States has undergone significant changes over the past few decades, largely driven by a series of legislative and regulatory initiatives aimed at promoting competition, efficiency, and the integration of renewable energy resources. In this… Continue reading “A Brief History of Transmission Legislation in the United States”
The Four Categories to Qualify for the Low Income Community Bonus Adder The Low Income Community Bonus Adder provision in the Inflation Reduction Act is different from all the other bonus adders and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) itself, because it is an allocated credit. That means there is a limited number… Continue reading “The Four Categories to Qualify for the Low Income Community Bonus Adder”
New Free Course Announcement: Domestic Content Bonus Adder The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has opened up tremendous new incentives for solar projects – including a potentially lucrative 10% tax credit adder for using domestically-made components and products, known as the Domestic Content Bonus Adder. Although, actually qualifying for… Continue reading “New Free Course Announcement: Domestic Content Bonus Adder”
Learn the Basics of the Energy Community Bonus Adder Provision When we think about the term energy communities, as in the bonus adder provision included in the Inflation Reduction Act, we’re referring to legacy fossil fuel communities anchored in the extraction, processing, or generation of energy using coal, oil, and… Continue reading “Learn the Basics of the Energy Community Bonus Adder Provision “
What Are the Types of Solar Incentives? Solar incentives often make or break the motivation for a homeowner to get solar. Depending on the physical location, your client may be eligible for various types of incentives at the utility, state, and federal level. It’s important for solar… Continue reading “What Are the Types of Solar Incentives?”
New Free Course Announcement: Inflation Reduction Act Solar Provisions: Direct Pay Elective Pay (more commonly known as Direct Pay) creates a pathway for nonprofit organizations to utilize tax credits. It was included as a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August 2022. Prior to Direct Pay, it was difficult… Continue reading “New Free Course Announcement: Inflation Reduction Act Solar Provisions: Direct Pay”
Around the Solar World in 80 Days A journey into the heart of the growing clean energy sector and what we learned while we were there It’s no secret that the solar industry is facing an unprecedented time in our evolution. The opportunities have never been greater,… Continue reading “Around the Solar World in 80 Days”
What are Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs)? Homeowners who produce solar energy on their property can generate solar renewable energy certificates (often called SRECs or RECs) based on the amount of clean energy their solar panels generate. These SRECs can then be sold to companies or utilities… Continue reading “What are Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs)?”
Refrigerants: The #1 Biggest Solution to Reverse Global Warming Solving refrigerant emissions is ranked the single biggest solution to reverse global warming (source: Project Drawdown). “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Refrigerants” is a free introduction to refrigerant management strategies and alternative refrigerants – the playbook for deploying heat pumps responsibly, at scale.… Continue reading “Refrigerants: The #1 Biggest Solution to Reverse Global Warming”
White Paper: Best Practices for Teaching Clean Energy Skills This is the second white paper in our “Researcher-in-Residence” series. A PDF version of this white paper, along with supplementary videos, is available in the free course, “What Data Tells Us About Teaching & Learning Clean Energy Skills“. Courses on… Continue reading “White Paper: Best Practices for Teaching Clean Energy Skills”
Solar Onboarding 102 – Now Free for Members & Their Friends Starting today, for a limited time, “Solar Onboarding 102 for Non-Solar Professionals” is free for HeatSpring Members and their guests. Members can give the class for free to somebody they know who wants to get started in the solar industry.… Continue reading “Solar Onboarding 102 – Now Free for Members & Their Friends”
New Solar Onboarding Course – Free for Members & Their Guests We need more good people in the solar industry. If you know somebody ready to jump in, here’s a fun way to help them to be successful: Starting today, for a limited time, “Solar Onboarding 101 for Non-Solar Professionals” is… Continue reading “New Solar Onboarding Course – Free for Members & Their Guests”
Impacts of IEEE 1547 to Developers and Engineers Working on Distribution Interconnections The latest revision of IEEE 1547TM-2018 – IEEE Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with Associated Electric Power Interfaces turns five years old this year. Many solar PV developers and engineers that are just entering the industry… Continue reading “Impacts of IEEE 1547 to Developers and Engineers Working on Distribution Interconnections”
Standards for Distributed Energy Resources Interconnecting to Utility Systems Interconnection standards for Distributed Energy Resources (DER) connecting to utility transmission and distribution systems have evolved and will continue to change in the coming decades. DER includes inverter-based resources (IBR), such as solar PV, battery energy storage, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G),… Continue reading “Standards for Distributed Energy Resources Interconnecting to Utility Systems”
Tax Benefits and Investing in Solar Projects With so many commercial and industrial solar projects slated to come online in the next ten years, investing in solar projects is becoming a more popular and lucrative business venture. In this blog post, we are joined by Nick Giannotti,… Continue reading “Tax Benefits and Investing in Solar Projects”