Help Choose the Solar District Cup 2020 Industry Choice Winner We are excited to invite all HeatSpring students, instructors, and members of our community to participate in the selection of the Industry Choice winner of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar District Cup 2020 Competition Event on Monday April 27th from… Continue reading “Help Choose the Solar District Cup 2020 Industry Choice Winner”
NABCEP to Offer Online Certification Exams Update 6/16/2020: Live Online Proctoring is now available for all NABCEP Board Certification and Associate credentialing exams. Due to concerns about the COVID-19 emergency, NABCEP has decided to offer all Board Certification and Associate level exams through live online proctoring (LOP).… Continue reading “NABCEP to Offer Online Certification Exams”
Not All Lithium Ion is the Same in Energy Storage Systems Not all lithium ion is the same in the batteries that make up energy storage systems, says Wes Kennedy, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar Plus Storage course. “Chemistry matters,” he says. “Lithium ion is a huge catch-all term for about… Continue reading “Not All Lithium Ion is the Same in Energy Storage Systems”
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”
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”
Adopting the “Minnesota Nice” Model to Collaborate with Utilities for a Win-Win Over Solar-Plus-Storage Utilities often try to stop or slow solar-plus-storage projects at the Public Utility Commissions, says Christopher LaForge, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar Plus Storage course. In one such effort, We Energies, Wisconsin’s largest utility, increased its fee for connecting to… Continue reading “Adopting the “Minnesota Nice” Model to Collaborate with Utilities for a Win-Win Over Solar-Plus-Storage”
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”
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”
Maximum power from a little known micro-inverter company. If you’re like me, you have a tendency to pass over good information, because you become so busy. Everything becomes urgent and nothing becomes important. Crisis management is the trend, but what if that can change? As it relates to… Continue reading “Maximum power from a little known micro-inverter company.”
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”
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”
Why Did the Residential Solar-Plus-Storage Market Grow Tenfold Last Year? In some ways, homeowners’ romantic notions of being energy independent fueled the recent growth in residential solar-plus-storage, says Wes Kennedy, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar-Plus-Storage course. The residential market was the fastest-moving market in solar-plus-storage, growing tenfold between 2017 and… Continue reading “Why Did the Residential Solar-Plus-Storage Market Grow Tenfold Last Year?”
Stacking, Microgrids, and Other Trends Moving the Solar-Plus-Storage Industry Early adopters of solar-plus-storage have their eye on “stacking” the benefits of storage, which would allow for storage owners to be compensated by utilities or regional transmission organizations for more than one benefit, says Wes Kennedy, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive… Continue reading “Stacking, Microgrids, and Other Trends Moving the Solar-Plus-Storage Industry”
Avoid These Mistakes When Developing Solar Projects It’s easy to make mistakes when developing solar projects—and just one goof can lead to other goofs, extra costs, and wasted time. That’s the word from Keith Cronin and Chris Lord, instructors for HeatSpring’s Solar Executive MBA Training course, which… Continue reading “Avoid These Mistakes When Developing Solar Projects”
Four Trends Shaping the Solar-Plus-Storage Market Until recently, consumers and businesses embraced solar-plus-storage because they either wanted a backup in the case of utility outages or desired to be off-grid, says Wes Kennedy, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar-Plus-Storage course. But in recent years, all that has… Continue reading “Four Trends Shaping the Solar-Plus-Storage Market”
How to Design Solar-Plus-Storage Systems that are Cost-Effective and Safe When it comes to designing solar-plus-storage systems, small mistakes can be very costly, says Christopher LaForge, CEO of Great Northern Solar and an NABCEP-certified PV Installation Professional Emeritus. He should know. The instructor of HeatSpring’s “Designing PV Systems with Energy… Continue reading “How to Design Solar-Plus-Storage Systems that are Cost-Effective and Safe”
“Bring me tariffs!” U.S. Solar Industry Braces After ITC Ruling Friday the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued its decision finding “a substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry” due to dumping of low cost Chinese solar panels in the U.S. market. By the “domestic industry” the ITC… Continue reading ““Bring me tariffs!” U.S. Solar Industry Braces After ITC Ruling”
How to Design Smart Solar Systems in a Fast-Moving Industry Because technology, regulations and software are evolving rapidly in the solar industry, it’s important for contractors, designers and engineers to stay informed about the latest ways to design solar systems. While it may seem daunting to track industry changes, you… Continue reading “How to Design Smart Solar Systems in a Fast-Moving Industry”