An Easy Win: I Will Set Up a Free Employee Learning Platform for Your Team The solar industry needs more people. So every solar company leader should know about this free benefit: For $0 any solar company can use HeatSpring as a learning platform to train employees. You can request yours right now. It takes… Continue reading “An Easy Win: I Will Set Up a Free Employee Learning Platform for Your Team”
Changing Standards for the PV Industry: UL 61730 for PV Modules and UL 3741 for PV Hazard Control (Rapid Shutdown UL Listing) Codes and standards are regularly updated for the constantly evolving solar and storage industries. Sean White and Bill Brooks recently updated their advanced codes courses on HeatSpring to include information on UL 61730 and UL 3741. Here’s some information on… Continue reading “Changing Standards for the PV Industry: UL 61730 for PV Modules and UL 3741 for PV Hazard Control (Rapid Shutdown UL Listing)”
E2 Clean Jobs America 2022 Summary E2 is a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors, and others who advocate for smart policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment. E2 believes that a good economy and good environment should be good… Continue reading “E2 Clean Jobs America 2022 Summary”
Key Takeaways from the National Solar Jobs Census 2021 + Updates to Solar Career Pathways Course Sharing out the latest information on solar employment statistics is a big component in HeatSpring’s free Solar Career Pathways course. When partners on the course, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), released their National Solar Jobs Census 2021, we jumped… Continue reading “Key Takeaways from the National Solar Jobs Census 2021 + Updates to Solar Career Pathways Course”
The Most Common Problem When Troubleshooting PV + Energy Storage Systems When asked about the most common problem regarding solar + storage, HeatSpring instructor Chris LaForge came up with his answer without hesitation. Tune in to the video or the transcript below to hear Chris’s thoughts on the issue. Chris has… Continue reading “The Most Common Problem When Troubleshooting PV + Energy Storage Systems”
What the Inflation Reduction Act Could Mean for the HeatSpring Community UPDATE: The Inflation Reduction Act has passed Congress and has signed by President Biden. For many of us working in clean energy and environmental stewardship, hearing that the Inflation Reduction Act passed through the Senate filled us with hope for… Continue reading “What the Inflation Reduction Act Could Mean for the HeatSpring Community”
Building and Managing Decentralized Solar Project Teams Chris Lord has helped fund and develop hundreds of megawatts of solar projects over the past eight years, but his company is small. I asked Chris to explain how he builds and manages a decentralized group of collaborators to have… Continue reading “Building and Managing Decentralized Solar Project Teams”
Why Your Install Crews Don’t Have (M)any Women It’s no secret that women are very underrepresented in the solar industry. According to the National Solar Job Census, women made up just under 30% of solar employees in 2021, which is well below the 47% of women that make… Continue reading “Why Your Install Crews Don’t Have (M)any Women”
Managing a Commercial Solar Portfolio: How Solar Developers, EPC Contractors and O&M Teams Work Together Chris Lord helps his clients manage a portfolio of solar assets. In that role he’s also managing a network of subcontractors who don’t always have aligned interests. This is the sort of thing Chris and Keith Cronin cover in their… Continue reading “Managing a Commercial Solar Portfolio: How Solar Developers, EPC Contractors and O&M Teams Work Together”
Simulating a Power Outage to Test Battery Health Batteries that are used strictly for resiliency are oftentimes rarely discharged, as these storage applications only get used when the utility has an outage. That has a lot of implications for the storage equipment. Join HeatSpring instructor Chris LaForge as… Continue reading “Simulating a Power Outage to Test Battery Health”
Construction & Project Managers: Demand is High, Supply is Low Chris Lord helps put together and finance large solar projects. From that vantage point he’s able to see where bottlenecks are in the industry. Recently Chris was telling me how hard it is to find experienced construction and project managers… Continue reading “Construction & Project Managers: Demand is High, Supply is Low”
The Importance of Surge Protection on PV + Energy Storage Systems Chris LaForge has been in the solar and storage industry for over 30 years. You can imagine he’s seen it all when it comes to operations and maintenance on solar and energy storage systems. We wanted to know what is… Continue reading “The Importance of Surge Protection on PV + Energy Storage Systems”
1 NABCEP CEU – New Free Course – Qualifying Commercial Solar Leads & Projects Anyone who’s made the leap from residential to commercial solar sales can tell you – it’s a different beast. With multiple decision makers and various motivating factors, the commercial and industrial (C&I) sales process takes longer and is more complex. … Continue reading “1 NABCEP CEU – New Free Course – Qualifying Commercial Solar Leads & Projects”
What are the biggest deal breakers when it comes to large scale solar projects? – Ask an Expert In the Ask an Expert series, HeatSpring instructors and industry thought leaders answer a question on the minds of the HeatSpring community. We are joined by Dylan Reitenbach, Project Manager at a national solar developer and financier. In this session,… Continue reading “What are the biggest deal breakers when it comes to large scale solar projects? – Ask an Expert”
How Does a Solar Project Dealmaker Spend His Time? “Solar Project Dealmaker” is the best way to describe Chris Lord. He’s a lawyer, financial modeler, and builder of project teams. Hearing about his work helps you understand how big solar projects happen. Below you’ll hear about a few projects… Continue reading “How Does a Solar Project Dealmaker Spend His Time?”
Dialing in the Solar Development Process As the solar industry continues to boom, it’s easy to see that a rising tide lifts all boats. Solar companies virtually everywhere are growing at rapidly increasing rates. It’s not uncommon to hear about long installation timelines and even some… Continue reading “Dialing in the Solar Development Process”
The Whys of String Sizing Let’s go over the whys of string sizing. What is it and why do we do it? String Sizing Basics String sizing is critical when you’re putting modules in series. Remember that when you put modules in series, the voltage… Continue reading “The Whys of String Sizing”
What Does Billionaire Jeff Bezos Have In Common With Solar Development? The richest man in the world has something uniquely common with you. Seems far-fetched, but think about it for a moment. When he started Amazon, it was just a bookstore online. Nothing fancy. Back then, people were somewhat reluctant to… Continue reading “What Does Billionaire Jeff Bezos Have In Common With Solar Development?”
New Free Course from Fronius: PV Design & Repowering with Solar.creator and Repowering Tools The technical team from Fronius is sharing their knowledge and software tools again with the HeatSpring community – this time they’re teaching about their latest and greatest software design tools. The Fronius Solar.creator is a free and easy-to-use online configuration… Continue reading “New Free Course from Fronius: PV Design & Repowering with Solar.creator and Repowering Tools”
New Live Workshop: Mapping the Dynamic Solar Development Process It’s easy to get enamored with winning jobs, but ensuring that they are profitable and your team doesn’t waste precious human and financial resources in the process is the key to a healthy and balanced solar business. That’s where Mapping… Continue reading “New Live Workshop: Mapping the Dynamic Solar Development Process”