New Course: Pre-Construction in Utility-Scale Solar The subcontractors you select, the contracts you put in place, and the commercial foundations you establish before construction starts will shape every aspect of project execution. A well-run pre-construction (pre-con) process is one of the highest-leverage things an EPC can… Continue reading “New Course: Pre-Construction in Utility-Scale Solar”
New Course: Owning the Customer Interconnection Experience Many people get introduced to interconnection the same way: someone hands them a stack of utility paperwork and says, we need these filed. So they do. They submit the applications. Then a problem comes up, and they realize there’s a… Continue reading “New Course: Owning the Customer Interconnection Experience”
What It Takes to Succeed in the Trades – Welding Program Supervisor Rachel Henry Rachel Henry knows what it looks like to be a welding student, and what it looks like to teach one. She was a 4.0 student, award nominee, and self-described “absolute sponge” in welding school. Now, as Welding Program Supervisor at… Continue reading “What It Takes to Succeed in the Trades – Welding Program Supervisor Rachel Henry”
New Course Announcement: Transformer Specification & Applications for Inverter-Based Resources As many residential solar designers move up into larger C&I and utility-scale projects, the work starts to look pretty different from a rooftop install. Transformer specification is one of those areas where the learning curve shows up fast and where… Continue reading “New Course Announcement: Transformer Specification & Applications for Inverter-Based Resources”
How the Future of DER Interconnection Could Mirror the Evolution of Booking a Flight The interconnection process can make or break a project. And yet, it’s difficult to tell exactly how bad the bottlenecks truly are. Distribution-level interconnection data is fragmented across more than 3,000 utilities regulated by 50 different states, with few central… Continue reading “How the Future of DER Interconnection Could Mirror the Evolution of Booking a Flight”
What is an Energy Market Forecaster for ESS? If a battery energy storage system is going to make money in a wholesale energy market, it needs to know something the market hasn’t told it yet – where prices are headed. That’s the job of an energy market forecaster.… Continue reading “What is an Energy Market Forecaster for ESS?”
What Tools Do You Need When Troubleshooting Ground Faults? Ground faults are one of the more frustrating issues a solar technician can run into in the field. They can range from hard faults with a clear voltage signature to resistive or intermittent faults where voltage won’t show up on a… Continue reading “What Tools Do You Need When Troubleshooting Ground Faults?”
What is a Battery Simulator? If you’re building software for battery energy storage systems, you can’t just plug into a real battery every time you want to test something. That’s expensive, potentially damaging, and frankly impractical. That’s where battery simulators come in. In Peter Gruenbaum’s… Continue reading “What is a Battery Simulator? “
New Course: Software for In Front of the Meter Battery Systems According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, developers plan to add 24 GW of utility-scale battery storage to the grid in 2026 – on top of the record 15 GW added in 2025 and more than 40 GW over the… Continue reading “New Course: Software for In Front of the Meter Battery Systems”
New Course: Energy Storage Finance Energy storage has crossed a threshold. The technology is mature, costs have come down dramatically, and customers are asking for it. Now the real work is figuring out how to structure a deal that actually pencils. Wes Kennedy has spent… Continue reading “New Course: Energy Storage Finance”
1 FREE NABCEP CEU – How We Got Here: A (Riveting!) History of DER Interconnection in the U.S. If you’ve ever hit a wall on a solar or storage project because of interconnection delays, confusing utility procedures, or regulations that seem to make no sense – this new course is for you. HeatSpring just launched a new, free… Continue reading “1 FREE NABCEP CEU – How We Got Here: A (Riveting!) History of DER Interconnection in the U.S.”
New Course Bundle: Microgrid Essentials with Mayfield Renewables As battery storage costs drop and grid reliability concerns grow, microgrid projects are moving from the margins to the mainstream. The broader energy storage market is surging – the U.S. installed a record 57.6 GWh of new battery storage in… Continue reading “New Course Bundle: Microgrid Essentials with Mayfield Renewables”
Why Just Adding Batteries Won’t Solve Your Interconnection Problems When a solar project gets denied interconnection approval due to grid constraints, the natural impulse is to find a workaround. Can’t export to the grid? Can’t you just add batteries and keep everything on-site? If you’re not sending power back… Continue reading “Why Just Adding Batteries Won’t Solve Your Interconnection Problems “
What is the 120% “Rule” in Solar PV Design? If you’ve spent any time learning about solar PV systems, you’ve probably heard someone mention the 120% “rule.” It turns out that it’s not actually a rule at all. It’s one of several options for connecting solar to the utility… Continue reading “What is the 120% “Rule” in Solar PV Design?”
How Tax Credit Deadlines Are Overwhelming Utility Interconnection Queues The Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits were designed to accelerate clean energy deployment. With tax credits prematurely winding down, solar professionals are having to juggle multiple critical timelines with their projects. That’s because the customer tax credit eligibility doesn’t just… Continue reading “How Tax Credit Deadlines Are Overwhelming Utility Interconnection Queues”
How Solar Companies Can Get Ahead of Interconnection Challenges Across the country, many solar companies are following the same pattern. They build their interconnection processes around current conditions, assuming approvals will keep flowing seamlessly. The challenges start when saturation hits their local circuits and delays start to become more… Continue reading “How Solar Companies Can Get Ahead of Interconnection Challenges”
Practical Advice for Adding Energy Storage to Your Solar Business The transition from solar-only to solar plus storage doesn’t require a complete business overhaul, but it does require sound strategy. HeatSpring instructor Wes Kennedy shares actionable advice for solar companies ready to integrate more energy storage: how to identify markets… Continue reading “Practical Advice for Adding Energy Storage to Your Solar Business”
Common Misconceptions About Interconnection When interconnection problems arise, it’s easy to assume the utility is the villain by actively blocking clean energy projects or acting in bad faith. In some instances, that can be true. It turns out the reality is far more complex… Continue reading “Common Misconceptions About Interconnection”
Can Residential Solar Companies Make Money Doing Energy Audits? When solar companies consider adding energy audits into their service offering, one question always comes up: can you actually make money doing them? In this clip from HeatSpring PRO Circles, building performance expert and “Avoiding Main Panel Upgrades” instructor Spencer… Continue reading “Can Residential Solar Companies Make Money Doing Energy Audits?”
The Gateway to Building Performance | How Solar Companies Can Diversify into New Revenue Streams For residential solar companies squeezed by declining margins and saturated markets, the path forward is clear: diversify. The fuzzy part for many is where to begin. In this clip from HeatSpring PRO Circles, building performance expert Spencer Rosen breaks down… Continue reading “The Gateway to Building Performance | How Solar Companies Can Diversify into New Revenue Streams”