Solar + Storage Battery Considerations: Chemistry, Design & Charge Expert instructor Wes Kennedy answers 3 battery consideration questions in his Advanced Solar + Storage course discussion board… Student 1: One of the biggest hurdles we deal with on the commercial side of storage is the Authority Having Jurisdiction, or AHJ.… Continue reading “Solar + Storage Battery Considerations: Chemistry, Design & Charge”
Access the Tools, Network & Knowledge You Need to Advance Your Solar Career Here are the powerhouse solar courses you don’t want to miss: Megawatt Design – Master large-scale solar project design, learn how to get your projects permitted and installed faster and cheaper. Access valuable tools and resources, while advancing your career and the… Continue reading “Access the Tools, Network & Knowledge You Need to Advance Your Solar Career”
Building & Powering an Award-Winning Net Zero Energy Home Can a home be beautiful, powered entirely by solar energy, use sustainable heating and cooling systems and save it’s owners roughly $3,500 a year? Why, yes it can. Just ask Joanne Coons, who built her award winning, single-family, Net Zero Energy… Continue reading “Building & Powering an Award-Winning Net Zero Energy Home”
Understanding Residential and Commercial Energy Storage Renewable Energy Systems show strong Returns on Investment (ROI) and energy storage appears to add to the benefits at the bottom line. Learn the elements of energy storage for residential and commercial clients with this introductory overview of the field,… Continue reading “Understanding Residential and Commercial Energy Storage”
Volta: A Start-Up Company Powering West Africa As the solar and clean energy industry grows, it’s no surprise that the target market for renewable energy technologies is now expanding to include developing communities and countries. In fact, a host of new start-ups and innovative business models are… Continue reading “Volta: A Start-Up Company Powering West Africa”
To Defect or not to Defect? Going Off the Grid with Solar + Storage Why consider defecting from the grid? Is there room for utility and solar + storage compromise? The combination of solar plus storage is on everyone’s mind these days. There is a huge buzz in the solar industry about the prospect of… Continue reading “To Defect or not to Defect? Going Off the Grid with Solar + Storage”
Blending Battery-Free and Battery Back-Up PV Systems: Free Lecture Curious about designing dual PV systems? Watch Christopher LaForge‘s new case study, in which the Kroska Residential PV installation, (a project blending two PV system designs– Battery Free and Battery Back-up) is discussed. The Kroska installation accommodates two roof planes and types, with a… Continue reading “Blending Battery-Free and Battery Back-Up PV Systems: Free Lecture”
Wes Kennedy Weighs in on Stand Alone Solar Storage Systems On the Advanced Solar + Storage discussion board, Wes Kennedy answers student questions about distribution circuit capacity and AC coupling for retrofits… Student 1: Hey Wes, I have a quick comment on defining penetration levels. I think the definition you… Continue reading “Wes Kennedy Weighs in on Stand Alone Solar Storage Systems”
Why Will Net Metering Dissolve? What Should Residential Solar Pros Do? Hawaii has officially abolished net metering (NEM) and switched to a different metric for compensating consumers for their non-firm energy… so what is the industry to do? If you are in the residential solar field today, changes are coming to your neighborhood… Continue reading “Why Will Net Metering Dissolve? What Should Residential Solar Pros Do?”
HeatSpring Named Co-Host & Partner for Women in Solar Energy Roundtable In the summer of 2015, HeatSpring set out to profile a few of the absolutely amazing women making waves in the solar industry… After discovering a shocking dearth of women students enrolled in our courses, and researching the far larger industry trend boasting… Continue reading “HeatSpring Named Co-Host & Partner for Women in Solar Energy Roundtable”
PV Electrical Codes, Time of Use and Inverter Clipping Considerations Dr. Sean White takes on student questions about National Electrical Code compliance, solar panel Time of Use (TOU) optimization and inverter lifespan. Student 1: Why do some AHJ’s (Authority Having Jurisdiction’s) still allow installations under a previous edition of the National Electrical… Continue reading “PV Electrical Codes, Time of Use and Inverter Clipping Considerations”
Post-ITC Planning: Key Questions for Everyone in the Solar Value Chain The solar industry received a holiday gift this year in the form of the extension of the ITC. But we aren’t entirely out of the woods. Numerous threats to NEM and rate cases at dozens of utilities across the nation… Continue reading “Post-ITC Planning: Key Questions for Everyone in the Solar Value Chain”
Enroll in Advanced Solar + Storage, Get Wes Kennedy’s Battery Selector Tool! Why enroll in Advanced Solar + Storage? You’ll access the Battery Selector Tool! Decide the best battery for your application, from a cost perspective. This is a great tool for engineers, designers, and decision makers when determining the best battery to use… Continue reading “Enroll in Advanced Solar + Storage, Get Wes Kennedy’s Battery Selector Tool!”
Free Lecture: Commercial Photovoltaic Design- Integrating Commercial Scale Storage Sign up for Christopher LaForge’s FREE Commercial Photovoltaic Design- Integrating Commercial Scale Storage Lecture today! In this video lecture, Chris explains how commercial scale storage will affect the market for commercial clients, some of the major players that are in the current expanding… Continue reading “Free Lecture: Commercial Photovoltaic Design- Integrating Commercial Scale Storage”
The Advantages of Adding Storage to Your Commercial Solar PV Design In the article below, Christopher LaForge, IREC-Certified Master Trainer, NABCEP-Certified PV Installation Professional, and CEO of Great Northern Solar, provides detail about the advantages of adding storage to your commercial solar PV design. Learning Takeaways: By storing solar generation during the… Continue reading “The Advantages of Adding Storage to Your Commercial Solar PV Design”
Solar + Storage: Commercial v. Utility v. Residential The best solar + storage opportunities for most companies are on large commercial projects. That was my takeaway from a June 2nd call with Wes Kennedy, Joe Schwartz and David Brearley from SolarPro. The utility storage market is hot and happening… Continue reading “Solar + Storage: Commercial v. Utility v. Residential”
Free Lecture: “Electrical Loads in High Performance Buildings” with Chris Calwell Accurately predicting electrical loads is the biggest source of error in the design of battery-based solar pv systems and zero net energy homes. In this free lecture, Chris Calwell outlines best practices for predicting and measuring electrical loads in high… Continue reading “Free Lecture: “Electrical Loads in High Performance Buildings” with Chris Calwell”
Using Solar to Heat – Net Metering Makes a Difference In the article below, Vaughan Woodruff, Expert Instructor, Solar Approaches to Radiant Heating, outlines a response to a student who recently asked a question regarding the use of solar electricity for heating and how advances in battery storage might impact the suitability of using… Continue reading “Using Solar to Heat – Net Metering Makes a Difference”
3 Reasons Your PV System Load Profile is Overinflated and How to Fix It The article below is a discussion from our course, Batteries in Solar PV Systems, led by Christopher LaForge. Christopher LaForge is the CEO of Great Northern Solar and a NABCEP certified photovoltaic installer. He has been designing, specifying, and installing systems… Continue reading “3 Reasons Your PV System Load Profile is Overinflated and How to Fix It”
Interview: Battery Expert Christopher LaForge on the Tesla Powerwall The debut of the Tesla Powerwall has made quite a splash in many circles. Claiming to outperform current battery systems for solar, it has the potential to make a large impact on the storage side of the production of solar… Continue reading “Interview: Battery Expert Christopher LaForge on the Tesla Powerwall”