The Most Common Problem When Troubleshooting PV + Energy Storage Systems When asked about the most common problem regarding solar + storage, HeatSpring instructor Chris LaForge came up with his answer without hesitation. Tune in to the video or the transcript below to hear Chris’s thoughts on the issue. Chris has… Continue reading “The Most Common Problem When Troubleshooting PV + Energy Storage Systems”
Simulating a Power Outage to Test Battery Health Batteries that are used strictly for resiliency are oftentimes rarely discharged, as these storage applications only get used when the utility has an outage. That has a lot of implications for the storage equipment. Join HeatSpring instructor Chris LaForge as… Continue reading “Simulating a Power Outage to Test Battery Health”
The Importance of Surge Protection on PV + Energy Storage Systems Chris LaForge has been in the solar and storage industry for over 30 years. You can imagine he’s seen it all when it comes to operations and maintenance on solar and energy storage systems. We wanted to know what is… Continue reading “The Importance of Surge Protection on PV + Energy Storage Systems”
Who Is Making Money in Solar Plus Storage? – Ask an Expert In the Ask an Expert series, HeatSpring instructors and industry thought leaders answer a question on the minds of the HeatSpring community. This session, we are joined by Chris LaForge, instructor of the Designing Small Scale PV Systems with Energy… Continue reading “Who Is Making Money in Solar Plus Storage? – Ask an Expert”
Sean White Explains AC-Coupling, DC-Coupling, and Types of Inverters With demand increasing for energy storage, more solar customers have questions about how batteries can work with their solar systems. Let’s talk about how to couple PV and batteries as well as the various types of inverters on the market. … Continue reading “Sean White Explains AC-Coupling, DC-Coupling, and Types of Inverters”
How can end users truly get the most out of their solar + storage investment? – Ask an Expert Session In the Ask an Expert series, HeatSpring instructors and industry thought leaders answer a question on the minds of the HeatSpring community. We are joined by Chris LaForge, instructor of the Designing Small Scale PV Systems with Energy Storage. While… Continue reading “How can end users truly get the most out of their solar + storage investment? – Ask an Expert Session”
Ask an Expert: What Is Value Stacking as It Relates to Solar Plus Storage? In the Ask an Expert series, HeatSpring instructors and industry thought leaders answer a question on the minds of the HeatSpring community. This session, we are joined by Chris Brown and Chris LaForge, instructors of the Utility Scale Commercial &… Continue reading “Ask an Expert: What Is Value Stacking as It Relates to Solar Plus Storage?”
Ask an Expert: What are Some Challenges of Adding More Distributed Energy to the Grid? In the Ask an Expert series, HeatSpring instructors and industry thought leaders answer a question on the minds of the HeatSpring community. This session, we are joined by Chris Brown and Chris LaForge, instructors of the Utility Scale Commercial &… Continue reading “Ask an Expert: What are Some Challenges of Adding More Distributed Energy to the Grid?”
Ask an Expert: What Is the Best Practice for Commissioning a Residential PV System with Battery Backup? HeatSpring Magazine is launching a new series, Ask an Expert, where HeatSpring instructors and industry thought leaders answer a question on the minds of the HeatSpring community. In this inaugural Ask an Expert, we are joined by Designing Small Scale… Continue reading “Ask an Expert: What Is the Best Practice for Commissioning a Residential PV System with Battery Backup?”
Characteristics that Define Electro Chemical Battery Performance It’s no secret that the energy storage market is growing fast. Storage incentives in markets like Connecticut and Maine are making battery systems more advantageous. Concerns about grid reliability and resilience in markets like California and Louisiana are making batteries… Continue reading “Characteristics that Define Electro Chemical Battery Performance”
Reimagining Disaster Response with Solar Generators: A Conversation with Footprint Project HeatSpring’s Brit Heller connected with Will Heegaard, Operations Director, and Jamie Swezey, Program Coordinator, at Footprint Project. They help build back greener after climate disasters by mobilizing cleaner energy to communities in crisis. Footprint Project develops and deploys mobile solar… Continue reading “Reimagining Disaster Response with Solar Generators: A Conversation with Footprint Project”
Energy Storage Policy – a Look at the Most Recent States with Energy Storage Goals Energy storage is an imperative part of a renewable energy future. Storage provides significant benefits to our electric grid like increased reliability, increased resilience, cost savings, the ability to integrate diverse energy sources, and lessening our impact on the environment… Continue reading “Energy Storage Policy – a Look at the Most Recent States with Energy Storage Goals”
New Free Course: Solar Career Pathways Solar power will account for nearly half of new U.S. electric generating capacity in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. With large increases in solar capacity comes huge increases in solar jobs. To showcase the abundance of opportunities… Continue reading “New Free Course: Solar Career Pathways”
Chris LaForge Updates and Improves “Designing Small Scale PV Systems with Energy Storage” Energy storage is the fastest moving area within the solar energy industry. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that 10 GW of battery storage capacity will be added to the grid over the next two years. As more storage is… Continue reading “Chris LaForge Updates and Improves “Designing Small Scale PV Systems with Energy Storage””
Tiny Home Courses Land on HeatSpring Much has changed over the past few years. The realm of what’s possible at our jobs and how we live has broadened. While tiny home living has been growing for years, the pandemic has accelerated the movement. Between the (lack… Continue reading “Tiny Home Courses Land on HeatSpring”
Five Reasons to Join HeatSpring for NABCEP PV Associate Training at the 2022 NABCEP CE Conference Are you looking to start or advance your career in solar energy this year? Are you hoping to level up your solar knowledge by gaining the NABCEP Associate credential and beyond? Do you want to build your expertise in one… Continue reading “Five Reasons to Join HeatSpring for NABCEP PV Associate Training at the 2022 NABCEP CE Conference”
Design Considerations when Sizing Grid-tied Solar versus Off-grid Solar Appropriately sizing a customer’s solar system is imperative for happy clients. Correct sizing is even more critical with off-grid solar systems, as the utility grid is not available to use as a power source. Needlessly oversizing an off-grid system means… Continue reading “Design Considerations when Sizing Grid-tied Solar versus Off-grid Solar”
Photo Contest Giveaway: Fluke Solar Irradiance Meter Thanks to our partners at Fluke, HeatSpring is giving away two Fluke Solar Irradiance Meters! Fluke was founded in 1948. Ever since, they have been making quality testing and troubleshooting tools for a variety of manufacturing and service industries. Solar… Continue reading “Photo Contest Giveaway: Fluke Solar Irradiance Meter”
New Course: 10-Hour Energy Storage 2020 NEC When you need ten NABCEP hours, you want ten NABCEP hours. Not eighteen or twenty or thirty or forty or fifty-eight. Ten. You asked and Sean White listened – the result is his new “10-Hour Energy Storage 2020 NEC” class.… Continue reading “New Course: 10-Hour Energy Storage 2020 NEC”
Wes Kennedy’s Solar Shed and the Quest for Net Zero This Fall Wes Kennedy is teaching an incredible course called “Comprehensive Solar + Storage“. Consider taking it if you want to level-up your energy storage knowledge and earn a bunch of NABCEP credits. I asked Wes what kept him busy… Continue reading “Wes Kennedy’s Solar Shed and the Quest for Net Zero”