Fill in Your Knowledge Gaps – October HVAC Trainings Sharpen and grow your skillset via a technical, online course about heating, ventilation, cooling and air conditioning systems: Integrated HVAC Engineering – Master the complex interaction of room air temperature, humidity, mean radiant temperature, ventilation rate, lighting, sound, and even odors… Continue reading “Fill in Your Knowledge Gaps – October HVAC Trainings”
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”
PPA Deal with 3 Investors: Questions to Ask to Model and Structure the PPA When you’re working on a PPA deal with multiple investors you need to know each investor’s end goal and then structure the PPA accordingly. Do you need to consider a Partnership Flip or the Unstructured model returns? Here’s a discussion from our… Continue reading “PPA Deal with 3 Investors: Questions to Ask to Model and Structure the PPA”
The Best Way to Sell Solar, According to a Nobel Prize Winning Economist “So Myron, have you installed solar panels on your house?” I asked. The answer was no: “I have these magnificent redwood trees, so that gives me trouble”… THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON BLOG.AURORASOLAR.COM ON 9/3/2016 …Indeed, we performed a shading analysis… Continue reading “The Best Way to Sell Solar, According to a Nobel Prize Winning Economist”
Meet NABCEP! By now, all solar professionals have heard of the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certifications. But, what does it mean to be NABCEP certified, and how can you get certified? How is the new Associate Program different from… Continue reading “Meet NABCEP!”
The SunEdison Collapse & Today’s Solar Market It’s ugly out there. The folding of SunEdison has been a disaster for the industry. With the recent SolarCity announcement of Elon and the Rive Brothers using their cashed-in stock options to create a short term bond, what does this mean for an… Continue reading “The SunEdison Collapse & Today’s Solar Market”
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”
Crafting Your Solar Marketing Program — New, FREE Trainings! At HeatSpring, we’re no strangers to the amazing work of Glenna Wiseman at Identity3 and the Energy Trust of Oregon. That’s why we’ve decided to share the Build it Bright! Crafting Your Solar Marketing Program with our audience. This training series, facilitated… Continue reading “Crafting Your Solar Marketing Program — New, FREE Trainings!”
The ASES 2016 National Solar Tour From Maine to California, and almost everywhere in between, ASES’ 2016 National Solar Tour allows visitors to view over 35 solar energy sites across the United States The ASES National Solar Tour is the largest grassroots solar event in the nation,… Continue reading “The ASES 2016 National Solar Tour”
UW Greek Community Perpetuating College Sustainability Movement Officially launched in November 2015, the Green Greek Representative Program (GGRP) is a student-run program at the University of Washington working to make the Greek Community a more sustainable place. Working through UW EcoReps and supported by the UW Sustainability office,… Continue reading “UW Greek Community Perpetuating College Sustainability Movement”
Resilient Community Microgrids: An Introduction Learn about the potential of community microgrids in this new short course. Microgrid Institute Director Michael Burr provides a comprehensive introduction to how community microgrids work, what problems they can solve, and how market trends are driving microgrid development, in… Continue reading “Resilient Community Microgrids: An Introduction”
NEW Corporate Renewable Energy Purchasing Training Many U.S. companies are seeking to purchase renewable energy… Major potential benefits include securing long term energy supplies; substantial cost savings; reduced price volatility; compliance with government regulations and reporting requirements; achieving corporate sustainability goals; and general brand enhancement. These… Continue reading “NEW Corporate Renewable Energy Purchasing Training”
GRID Alternatives’ International Program Expands to Nepal In July, HeatSpring published a Sustainable Women Series article featuring the Founder and CEO of GRID Alternatives, a national non-profit that facilitates affordable solar power projects, oftentimes in low-income communities. In this follow-up article, I spoke with Jenean Smith, the… Continue reading “GRID Alternatives’ International Program Expands to Nepal”
Meet Solar Research Pro Paula Mints What do Australia, Indian Lands, and women’s shelters have in common…? While it may sound like the start of a bad joke, there’s actually a great – and lucrative – answer: solar power potential and solar market opportunities abound in… Continue reading “Meet Solar Research Pro Paula Mints”
Driving Down Solar Costs: A 70% Reduction in 5 Years Launched by the Department of Energy in February 2011, the SunShot Initiative was designed to make solar energy cost-competitive by 2020. In 2010, the cost of one solar watt was $3.80. The SunShot project was attempting to reduce solar costs to $1 per… Continue reading “Driving Down Solar Costs: A 70% Reduction in 5 Years”
Learn Infrared Imaging as a PV Characterization Tool for $30 Along with the increasing popularity of solar PV systems comes the need for high-quality operations and maintenance (O&M). This is an area that is often overlooked but has been gaining attention in recent years. In this lecture, Dr. James Rand… Continue reading “Learn Infrared Imaging as a PV Characterization Tool for $30”
Why We Haven’t Crossed the Chasm in Residential Solar & What to Do Just because we’re not shooting fish in a barrel doesn’t mean we’re moving past the late early majority, venturing into the mainstream, or “crossing the chasm” of residential solar. Since December 2015, I’ve been exploring the macro changes happening in… Continue reading “Why We Haven’t Crossed the Chasm in Residential Solar & What to Do”
Zero Energy Homes: Economics, Efficiency & Renewable Energy Integration What are Zero Energy Homes? How are they cost efficient and how do they help significantly lessen energy use? In this $30 course, sustainable building expert Ann Edminster has the answers. This course, designed as an introduction to all things Zero… Continue reading “Zero Energy Homes: Economics, Efficiency & Renewable Energy Integration”
Sustainable Brewing: A Small, Solar-Powered Company in the Business of Beer Throwback Brewery: where great beer, solar and sustainable business practices collide. In 2010, co-Founders Annette Lee and Nicole Carrier opened their brewery in North Hampton, New Hampshire with the vision to create 100% locally-sourced beers, as well as to promote other aspects of… Continue reading “Sustainable Brewing: A Small, Solar-Powered Company in the Business of Beer”
Meet Sustainable Scholar Andy Skumanich: Global Microgrid Expert & Solar Start-up Whiz A successful Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur, Dr. Andy Skumanich is currently CEO and Founder of SolarVision Consulting, a boutique technology business development company whose technologists work on renewables and DG energy production projects. He also co-founded Advenira Enterprises, a start-up… Continue reading “Meet Sustainable Scholar Andy Skumanich: Global Microgrid Expert & Solar Start-up Whiz”