STC, NOCT, and NMOT: Sean White Decodes Test Conditions Used on the PV Module Datasheet Every PV module datasheet lists numbers like open-circuit voltage (VOC), max power voltage (VMP), and short-circuit current (ISC), but a module rarely actually operates at any of them. Differences in temperature and sunlight cause voltage and current to skew one… Continue reading “STC, NOCT, and NMOT: Sean White Decodes Test Conditions Used on the PV Module Datasheet”
What’s ASCE 7? Sean White on Calculating Wind, Snow, and Structural Loads When it comes to snow loads, wind loads, and other structural forces on a building, the International Code Council (ICC) codes give you a general framework. To run the actual calculations, like sizing a beam for a specific roof slope,… Continue reading “What’s ASCE 7? Sean White on Calculating Wind, Snow, and Structural Loads”
What’s the Most Common Fall Hazard Mistake – Even Among Experienced Installers? Ask any safety professional what worries them most, and the answer is rarely a hazard workers don’t recognize. It’s the shortcut they know is risky and do anyway. In this Q&A from our Competent Person Fall Protection Training course, Josh… Continue reading “What’s the Most Common Fall Hazard Mistake – Even Among Experienced Installers? “
Development Service Agreement vs. Membership Interest Purchase Agreement, Explained Solar deals eventually require ownership to change hands, whether a project gets assigned to a developer through a development service agreement (DSA) or an asset gets sold outright through a membership interest purchase agreement (MIPA). We asked Keith Cronin, instructor… Continue reading “Development Service Agreement vs. Membership Interest Purchase Agreement, Explained”
New Course: Utility-Scale Solar QA/QC Fundamentals Julie Stiglish opens her new course with a story straight out of her own field experience: somewhere on a utility-scale site right now, a two-dollar defect is being installed. Nobody’s doing it on purpose. The crew is good, the weather’s… Continue reading “New Course: Utility-Scale Solar QA/QC Fundamentals”
New Course: Trenching and Shoring Safety Trenching can be some of the most dangerous work on a construction or solar site, and it’s also some of the most routine. Conduit needs to go in the ground. Wire needs to be pulled. Crews dig, lay their lines,… Continue reading “New Course: Trenching and Shoring Safety”
Maximum Voltage vs. Peak Voltage: Sean White on Energy Storage System Wire Sizing When you’re sizing wire for an energy storage system, the number you need isn’t the highest voltage the system could ever produce. Instead, it’s a specific, defined value called maximum voltage. In the National Electrical Code Article 706.9, maximum voltage… Continue reading “Maximum Voltage vs. Peak Voltage: Sean White on Energy Storage System Wire Sizing”
New Course: Forklift Operator Training HeatSpring just launched Forklift Operator Training, a two-hour online course that covers the formal instruction portion of OSHA-required forklift certification. Why take this course Forklifts, or powered industrial trucks, are a staple in countless warehouses and industrial facilities. OSHA requires… Continue reading “New Course: Forklift Operator Training”
Flagger Hand Signals Explained Road construction, utility repairs, and lane closures all rely on flaggers: workers positioned at the edge of a work zone, using a paddle, flag, or flashlight to tell drivers when to stop, when to go, and when to slow down.… Continue reading “Flagger Hand Signals Explained “
What the O&M Agreement Covers and Why It’s Tied to Your Financial Model Solar assets need decades of upkeep, and that responsibility needs to be spelled out in the O&M agreement. Skipped infrared testing and visual inspections, excessive panel soiling, or an inverter failure without a response plan in place are just a… Continue reading “What the O&M Agreement Covers and Why It’s Tied to Your Financial Model”
Clawbacks & Milestones: Notable Solar EPC Agreement Clauses The EPC agreement governs the actual construction of a solar project, and two parts in particular can cause problems for developers as projects slip: clawback clauses tied to completion deadlines, and the milestone payment structure that governs how money moves… Continue reading “Clawbacks & Milestones: Notable Solar EPC Agreement Clauses”
New Free Course – Getting Hired in Clean Energy: Resumes and Job Search Know someone looking to break into solar, electrical work, or another clean energy trade? HeatSpring’s Brittany Heller just launched a new free course to help them get there. Getting Hired in Clean Energy: Resumes Writing and Job Search Skills walks… Continue reading “New Free Course – Getting Hired in Clean Energy: Resumes and Job Search”
Ladder Safety with Sean White Falls are one of the most common hazards on a job site, and ladders are often part of that risk, especially on residential solar installs where you’re going up onto a pitched roof. A few specific practices can go a… Continue reading “Ladder Safety with Sean White”
HeatSpring is the Official PVA & OMAT Training Provider for the 2027 NABCEP Conference We just signed on to be the official PVA & OMAT training provider for the 2027 NABCEP Conference. Sean White is teaching the class. Learners spend three days together at the conference training with Sean. They also get access to… Continue reading “HeatSpring is the Official PVA & OMAT Training Provider for the 2027 NABCEP Conference”
Volts, Amps, Ohms, Watts: Sean White on Ohm’s Law and How to Measure Each One Ohm’s Law describes the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance in an electrical circuit: voltage equals current multiplied by resistance (V = IR). Pair that with the power equation – power equals current multiplied by voltage (P = IV) –… Continue reading “Volts, Amps, Ohms, Watts: Sean White on Ohm’s Law and How to Measure Each One”
How to Properly Fit a Fall Protection Harness In the hierarchy of fall protection, PPE, sits near the bottom, not the top. Elimination – removing the fall hazard entirely – is always the first line of defense, followed by passive systems, travel restraint, and only then fall arrest.… Continue reading “How to Properly Fit a Fall Protection Harness “
Undefined Terms Can Have Real Consequences: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the NEC Code-Making Process There are words in the National Electrical Code that practitioners use every day without a second thought. “Backfeed” is one of them. What emerged during a Code-Making Panel 4 meeting in the 2026 NEC revision cycle is that even the… Continue reading “Undefined Terms Can Have Real Consequences: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the NEC Code-Making Process”
Inside the Solar Executive MBA Data Room We just published a new course, and there’s nothing else like it in the world: Inside the Solar Executive MBA Data Room. Keith Cronin opened up actual data room documents and models he uses to develop, finance, and sell solar… Continue reading “Inside the Solar Executive MBA Data Room”
Why Developers Get the Solar Data Room Wrong (and What It Costs Them) Ask a handful of solar developers where their project documents live, and you’ll get some version of the same answer: a folder on someone’s desktop, scattered across an engineer’s inbox, or nowhere organized at all. HeatSpring instructor Keith Cronin has… Continue reading “Why Developers Get the Solar Data Room Wrong (and What It Costs Them)”
New Course: Competent Person Fall Protection Training Falls are the number one cause of death in construction and almost every one of them is preventable. That’s the reason this course exists. HeatSpring’s new Competent Person Fall Protection Training, taught by instructor Jenny Conrardy, is now live, and… Continue reading “New Course: Competent Person Fall Protection Training”