New Course Announcement: Commercial Electric Tariffs: Impacts on Solar Incorporating commercial solar sales into your business can be an advantageous income stream for residential solar businesses looking to diversify their revenue sources. There are many opportunities in this sector as companies, non-profits, and local municipalities look to reduce their… Continue reading “New Course Announcement: Commercial Electric Tariffs: Impacts on Solar”
Voltage Control Using Inverter Reactive Power Control This is the fifth of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” In the previous four posts in this series, we discussed what reactive power is and where it comes from, its impact on T&D… Continue reading “Voltage Control Using Inverter Reactive Power Control”
What Makes Construction Challenging? Working in construction can be very challenging. Why is this? HeatSpring instructor Amy Powell asks her teammates, colleagues, and trade partners to dive deep to get to the bottom of this question. She found that the majority of the challenges… Continue reading “What Makes Construction Challenging?”
Active Power Priority vs. Reactive Power Priority This is the fourth of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” Here’s the last article – “Inverter-Based Resources Reactive Power Capabilities” – in case you need to catch up. In the earlier articles in this series,… Continue reading “Active Power Priority vs. Reactive Power Priority”
Inverter-Based Resources Reactive Power Capabilities This is the third of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” Here’s the last article – “Reactive Power and Transmission & Distribution Operations” – in case you need to catch up. Inverters are a… Continue reading “Inverter-Based Resources Reactive Power Capabilities”
New Free Course Announcement: Construction Communication Methodology Construction communication methodology is a critical, yet rarely discussed, element that shapes the overall outcomes of a construction project and the experiences of those working there. With the countless timely needs that require our focus on construction projects, it can… Continue reading “New Free Course Announcement: Construction Communication Methodology”
Reactive Power and Transmission & Distribution Operations This is the second of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the differences and relationship between real, reactive, and apparent power. We also looked at… Continue reading “Reactive Power and Transmission & Distribution Operations”
What Are Reactive Power and VArs? This is the first of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” Right after I started my first job out of college, I found myself presenting at a meeting and talking about reactive power and… Continue reading “What Are Reactive Power and VArs?”
The Most Important Factors When Specifying a Transformer Going from designing residential solar systems to commercial and industrial (C&I) solar systems requires new knowledge in many areas. One area in particular is equipment selection. When megawatt-scale solar systems are designed and put into operation, medium voltage electrical equipment… Continue reading “The Most Important Factors When Specifying a Transformer”
Quick Trick to Find the Roof Slope Using Rise Over Run In residential solar, knowing the roof pitch is an essential part of preparing for any solar design and installation. The roof pitch can affect a system’s energy production. Sometimes, steep roofs include a cost adder because it is more difficult… Continue reading “Quick Trick to Find the Roof Slope Using Rise Over Run”
Troubleshooting a String Inverter Functioning inverters are absolutely key to a successfully operating residential solar system. In the event there’s an issue with the string inverter onsite, the system downtime means the homeowner can’t use any of their own solar energy during that period.… Continue reading “Troubleshooting a String Inverter”
The Ultimate Guide to the NABCEP PV Installation Professional Certification NABCEP’s PV Installation Professional (PVIP) Certification is considered the gold standard for solar PV professionals. It’s intended for folks who have been in the industry for a while and find themselves often (if not always) in a decision-making role that… Continue reading “The Ultimate Guide to the NABCEP PV Installation Professional Certification”
Help Your Team Get a Foundation in Solar with this Free Bundle of Courses to Onboard New Installers Residential solar saw its biggest year in 2022 with 40% growth in installations and the residential market adding 9,500 jobs, according to the Solar Jobs Census 2022. The long-term demand for skilled residential solar installers is expected to grow as… Continue reading “Help Your Team Get a Foundation in Solar with this Free Bundle of Courses to Onboard New Installers”
Pathways to Solar: Jan’s Journey to Leading Installs Employment of solar photovoltaic installers is projected to grow 22 percent from 2022 to 2032, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statics. To meet this surge in demand, the industry will… Continue reading “Pathways to Solar: Jan’s Journey to Leading Installs”
Battery Capacity Basics for Solar and Storage When choosing the right energy storage device, we must consider what we are doing with them, where we will put them, how much we will work on them, and how long we want them to last. Of course, all of these… Continue reading “Battery Capacity Basics for Solar and Storage”
One Year Trial of HelioScope Now Included in Megawatt Design Course Through Aurora Partnership HeatSpring and Aurora are teaming up to provide a pretty incredible hands-on learning experience for students. Now when students enroll in Megawatt Design, they will get access to HelioScope by Aurora for the duration of the course, which is one… Continue reading “One Year Trial of HelioScope Now Included in Megawatt Design Course Through Aurora Partnership”
Our Most Popular Free Class Gets an Update With just under 10,000 students enrolled, HeatSpring’s free Introduction to Solar PV Design, Installation, and Code just got a major upgrade, courtesy of our amazing instructor – Sean White. If you’ve never taken a course with Sean, this is a… Continue reading “Our Most Popular Free Class Gets an Update “
New Bundle Announcement: Residential Solar Service Technician Training Package The need for experienced and knowledgeable solar service technicians is growing quickly to keep pace with residential solar deployment. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the residential solar market experienced its 6th consecutive record year in 2022, growing… Continue reading “New Bundle Announcement: Residential Solar Service Technician Training Package”
2023 NEC Article 706.15 – Clarifying ESS Emergency Shutdown In 2022, the National Fire Protection Administration (NFPA) released the 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC). Updating the code every 3 years allows for clarification and correction of unintended consequences or gaps in the regulations. Article 706.15 in the 2023 NEC… Continue reading “2023 NEC Article 706.15 – Clarifying ESS Emergency Shutdown”
Let’s Meet @ RE+ in Las Vegas RE+ is the biggest solar conference in North America. This year it’s happening in Las Vegas on September 11-14, 2023. It’s impossible to see everything at a huge show like this. So here are some of the events that we… Continue reading “Let’s Meet @ RE+ in Las Vegas”