Democratizing Solar Energy with an ITC Refund The solar industry is lobbying for measures to move solar energy forward during the ongoing pandemic and financial crisis–measures that could help bring solar to more people in the U.S., boost the economy and help meet greenhouse gas reduction goals.… Continue reading “Democratizing Solar Energy with an ITC Refund”
Load Modeling Tool Helps Users Decide How to Best Use Solar, Storage & Controls To make the most effective use of solar, it’s critical to know when and how a customer is using power–and see if there’s a match between load and solar availability. While this seems like a simple idea, using a load… Continue reading “Load Modeling Tool Helps Users Decide How to Best Use Solar, Storage & Controls”
Utility Distribution Systems & Equipment: A Grid Professional’s Masterclass “Utility Distribution Systems & Equipment” is a new masterclass developed in partnership with Distributech, POWERGRID, and Utilicast. Instructor Tim Taylor developed the course to help utility and and distributed energy professionals level-up in their careers. Here’s a week-by-week breakdown of… Continue reading “Utility Distribution Systems & Equipment: A Grid Professional’s Masterclass”
Re-Thinking Wire Sizing Rules of Thumb for Solar PV For many years, the solar industry has followed rules of thumb about oversizing wires to reduce energy losses in solar PV systems. The rules of thumb call for the PV industry to oversize wires to ensure no more than a… Continue reading “Re-Thinking Wire Sizing Rules of Thumb for Solar PV”
The Quiet Revolution: Solar-Plus-Storage Gains Ground In some parts of the country, the costs of solar-plus-storage are beating grid prices, which is good news for the solar industry and the environment. For example, in Nevada, regulators in 2019 approved three solar-plus-storage power purchase agreements (PPA) for… Continue reading “The Quiet Revolution: Solar-Plus-Storage Gains Ground”
How to Streamline the Design Process for Large-Scale Solar Projects When designing a large-scale solar project, it’s critical to tackle classic hang-ups as early as possible to avoid slowing a project and encountering cost overruns, says Ryan Mayfield, instructor, along with Randy Batchelor, of HeatSpring’s Megawatt Design course. Designers need… Continue reading “How to Streamline the Design Process for Large-Scale Solar Projects”
New Course: Utility Scale Solar Construction & Project Management Are you just getting started in the large scale solar construction industry, or have you been in it for a while but unable to take the next step in your career and move up as quickly as you’d like? If… Continue reading “New Course: Utility Scale Solar Construction & Project Management”
Empower Solar Summit – Join us Free on July 23 2020 20+ SPEAKERS | 7 SESSIONS & 2 KEYNOTES | 1 EPIC DAY EMPOWER 2020 is where solar company leaders, industry professionals, policy insiders, and growth experts come together to share their knowledge, expertise, and insights. The theme this year is Creating… Continue reading “Empower Solar Summit – Join us Free on July 23 2020”
Tips From a Pro for Taking the NABCEP PV Installation Professional Exam If you’re a solar industry member interested in taking the NABCEP PV Installation Professional Certification exam, it’s a good idea to be familiar with the work of instructor Sean White–and to check out his tips about studying for exams. White,… Continue reading “Tips From a Pro for Taking the NABCEP PV Installation Professional Exam”
Training that Helps Low-Income People & International Students Enter the Solar Field Helping low-income people and students around the world prepare for green jobs makes HeatSpring instructor Sean White proud. White, instructor of HeatSpring’s Solar PV Boot Camp and NABCEP PV Associate Exam Prep course, is well suited for teaching people from… Continue reading “Training that Helps Low-Income People & International Students Enter the Solar Field”
Energy Storage Could be a Gold Mine for Utility Customers. What’s Holding it Back? Solar-plus-storage can be a gold mine for residential, commercial and industrial utility customers, says Christopher LaForge, co-instructor of HeatSpring’s 35-Hour NABCEP Advanced Solar Plus Storage: Proposals and Planning course. But right now, the customers face obstruction from utilities that are… Continue reading “Energy Storage Could be a Gold Mine for Utility Customers. What’s Holding it Back?”
Now Open: Live Online Proctoring for all NABCEP Board Certification Exams NABCEP has just announced that all candidates may now schedule to take all NABCEP PV Board Certification and PV Associate credentialing exams through live online proctoring (LOP). You may now schedule to take an exam from your own home! The… Continue reading “Now Open: Live Online Proctoring for all NABCEP Board Certification Exams”
HeatSpring Gets High Marks for Students Taking the NABCEP Associate Exam Over the past 12 months, 98% of the HeatSpring students who have taken the NABCEP PV Associate exam have passed it. HeatSpring instructor Sean White teaches the students how to prepare for the exam with his course, Solar PV Installer… Continue reading “HeatSpring Gets High Marks for Students Taking the NABCEP Associate Exam”
Jokes, Music and Memory Tricks Help Keep Students Engaged in NABCEP Course Sean White brings original guitar music, his own jokes, quick responses to questions and tried-and-true memorization tricks to HeatSpring’s 40-hour NABCEP Advanced PV Certification Training and CEUs course. Funny Professors Role Models for White He learned some of his teaching… Continue reading “Jokes, Music and Memory Tricks Help Keep Students Engaged in NABCEP Course”
New Free Course: Why Solar Plus Storage? Why is everyone talking about solar-plus-storage as a business opportunity? Expert instructors Chris LaForge and Chris Brown discuss the importance of solar-plus-storage, why it makes sense as a business case and why it is needed NOW. In our new free… Continue reading “New Free Course: Why Solar Plus Storage?”
What Happens in the Drone Pilot Boot Camp? The “Drone Pilot Boot Camp + Part 107 Exam Prep” course is twelve weeks long. It’s different from every other drone course because it combines several key experiences you need to really do the job. Before diving in it’s fair… Continue reading “What Happens in the Drone Pilot Boot Camp?”
Now Open: Live Online Proctoring for NABCEP Associate Exams NABCEP has just announced that candidates may now schedule to take the NABCEP PV Associate credentialing exams through live online proctoring (LOP), and can begin testing as soon as May 1st, 2020. The LOP testing method means that you can now… Continue reading “Now Open: Live Online Proctoring for NABCEP Associate Exams”
Non-Obvious Skills Needed in the Solar Industry This week I had the honor of participating in the first-ever SunCast Summit on Earth Day. The “Impact Your Career” session was a panel discussion between Shawn O’Brien (NABCEP), Brian Mehalic (Solar Energy International), Nico Johnson (SunCast), and me. I… Continue reading “Non-Obvious Skills Needed in the Solar Industry”
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”
How Deeply do you Understand Electrical Distribution? For the past thirteen years we’ve focused on power generation. Solar PV is distributed electricity generation. Today we’re announcing a new series of courses focused on electricity distribution. We’ve partnered with DISTRIBUTECH International to bring the most popular content from… Continue reading “How Deeply do you Understand Electrical Distribution?”