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?”
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”
Striking a Balance Between Aggressive and Conservative Solar Project Designs It’s tempting to pack a roof with too many solar panels to sell a system, says Randy Batchelor, instructor, along with Ryan Mayfield, of HeatSpring’s Megawatt Design course. “An engineer might say, ‘It will only fit 1 MW.’ A salesperson… Continue reading “Striking a Balance Between Aggressive and Conservative Solar Project Designs”
How Drones Reduce the Cost of Solar Many solar companies employ an in-house drone pilot. Why? Because drones lower the cost of design, installation, inspections and maintenance in solar projects of all sizes. They can help save a lot of money on big projects, and a little… Continue reading “How Drones Reduce the Cost of Solar”
Solar Legend Lends Expertise to HeatSpring Courses with Sean White Solar legend Bill Brooks has partnered with HeatSpring instructor Sean White to prepare new materials for some of White’s courses that train students to take NABCEP exams. Brooks, who calls himself an ambassador for solar technology, is an engineer with… Continue reading “Solar Legend Lends Expertise to HeatSpring Courses with Sean White”
Bringing More PV Online with Power Control Systems If you’re a PV solar producer who is not home for a week, the PV may fill up your battery storage and send too much current to the grid, possibly violating NEC or other rules. If this is likely to… Continue reading “Bringing More PV Online with Power Control Systems”
New Drone Pilot Training Program Builds Skills for the Renewable Energy Industry This release originally appeared on PR Fire The new “Drone Pilot Boot Camp + FAA Part 107 Exam Prep” is a collaboration between three companies: HeatSpring, Little Arms, and Unmanned Experts. They’ve built this unmanned aircract commercial operations course especially… Continue reading “New Drone Pilot Training Program Builds Skills for the Renewable Energy Industry”
Best Practices for Hiring, Training and Retaining Installation Crews A major challenge for renewable energy companies right now is a labor crunch; it’s hard to line up workers and salespeople in the industry, says Ryan Carda, principal engineer, Dandelion Energy, whose company uses HeatSpring for Groups courses to prepare… Continue reading “Best Practices for Hiring, Training and Retaining Installation Crews”
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”
A Shared Training Experience for Groups of Employees in Solar Companies Ben Ellis, field service manager for Solect Energy, says a major challenge for his company is keeping employees up to date on the rapidly changing solar industry. The best way to keep his team prepared for change is through education,… Continue reading “A Shared Training Experience for Groups of Employees in Solar Companies”
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”
Join NABCEP PV Expert Sean White at the ASES 2020 Conference We are excited to announce that HeatSpring instructor Sean White will be teaching two workshops at the American Solar Energy Society’s ASES SOLAR 20/20 conference this June. Registration is now open for SOLAR 20/20, June 23-26, 2020 at George Washington… Continue reading “Join NABCEP PV Expert Sean White at the ASES 2020 Conference”
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”
Free Webcast January 6th – Guide to Buying a Drone for Your Business Picking a Drone: Job Performance vs. Cost is a new free course for companies that want to use drones for their business. The unbiased, free guide was developed by Keven Gambold exclusively for HeatSpring customers and will launch on January… Continue reading “Free Webcast January 6th – Guide to Buying a Drone for Your Business”