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”
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”
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”
Free Webcast January 6th – Guide to Buying a Drone for Your Business Picking a Drone: Job Performance vs. Cost is a new free course for companies that want to use drones for their business. The unbiased, free guide was developed by Keven Gambold exclusively for HeatSpring customers and will launch on January… Continue reading “Free Webcast January 6th – Guide to Buying a Drone for Your Business”
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”
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”
3 Step Tool: Find your NABCEP CEU Requirements and Training Hours Are you a NABCEP Certified professional? I am excited to introduce a new tool to help you sort through NABCEP’s new requirements for recertification continuing education (CEU hours), then see your course options to fulfill those training requirements. 3 Step… Continue reading “3 Step Tool: Find your NABCEP CEU Requirements and Training Hours”
Free 2020 NEC Training for Solar PV The 2020 NEC has just been released and you should know all about it! Our new course Photovoltaics and the 2020 National Electric Code (NEC) will be FREE for the rest of the year. Bill Brooks and Sean White published the… Continue reading “Free 2020 NEC Training for Solar PV”
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”
Bigger Projects, Faster Design, Better ROI – Why “Megawatt Design” Exists and Whom it’s For “Megawatt Design” was an ambitious new course for solar designers created by Ryan Mayfield and SolarPro Magazine in 2014. The course has been continuously improved and today the content is more relevant than ever. Ryan, Randy Batchelor, and Jennifer Alfsen… Continue reading “Bigger Projects, Faster Design, Better ROI – Why “Megawatt Design” Exists and Whom it’s For”
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?”
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”
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”