5 Basic Elements You Need to Know to Finance any Solar Project If you’re new to the solar industry, go to the Solar 101 Reading list. It has free tools and articles on solar design and installation, sales and marketing, policy, finance and best practices. Second only to long term, clear and… Continue reading “5 Basic Elements You Need to Know to Finance any Solar Project”
16 Questions Every Profitable Solar Startup Should Be Able to Answer We recently installed a chat feature on HeatSpring so that we could better assist visitors and customers with any questions they may have. Last week, I had a great conversation with a fellow from New Jersey who was looking to… Continue reading “16 Questions Every Profitable Solar Startup Should Be Able to Answer”
The IREC 2010 US Solar Trends Report, 3 Things It Means for Solar Contractors. A few week’s ago, I wrote about SEIA’s solar market research and what this means for you, the solar contractor. Recently, IREC released their annual solar market report with the optimistic title: “Solar Markets in the US: Big, Booming, And… Continue reading “The IREC 2010 US Solar Trends Report, 3 Things It Means for Solar Contractors.”
Solar is the Fastest Growing Industry in the US! So What? According to the last report put out by the Solar Energy Industry (SEIA), solar, specifically solar pv is the fastest growing industry in the US. So what? What does this mean for your business or job prospects? How you can… Continue reading “Solar is the Fastest Growing Industry in the US! So What?”
2 Things Electricians Should Ask Themselves When Going Solar At HeatSpring Learning Institute, we do a lot of NABCEP solar training for electricians who are going to be starting companies in solar or moving their existing business into solar. After 4 years and 500 solar alumni who have gone through… Continue reading “2 Things Electricians Should Ask Themselves When Going Solar”
How You Can Use Geothermal To Gain LEED Certification Here is an excerpt from a white paper I just published on how and where a ground source heat pump can be utilized to gain LEED certification. By now, nearly everyone has at least heard of LEED but not many… Continue reading “How You Can Use Geothermal To Gain LEED Certification”
6 Ways to Not Waste Your Money on Solar Training BUYER BEWARE; when purchasing training, there are a lot of training providers coming into the market. Some are good, but some are bad. You’re smart–just do your homework. Everyone looking to get into solar industry should take some quality technical… Continue reading “6 Ways to Not Waste Your Money on Solar Training”
The 9 Best Geothermal and Solar Resources on the Internet This is a simple post. Here are our favorite solar and geothermal resources we’ve run into (or created!) over the past couple years that are really useful resources for understanding the technology, basic design, policy and sales of solar and… Continue reading “The 9 Best Geothermal and Solar Resources on the Internet”
SRECs…The Heartbeat of the Solar Industry What the SREC (Solar Renewable Energy Credit) has done for the solar power industry is akin to what the Ford industry did for the affordable car over a hudred years ago.
Sollega: Developing the Fastest Mounting and Grounding Solar Racking for Flat Roofs Module prices have been drastically dropping. The result is that companies are increasingly focused on using software to decrease business overhead but there has also been a huge focus on driving down Balance of System (BOS) costs, namely racking. This… Continue reading “Sollega: Developing the Fastest Mounting and Grounding Solar Racking for Flat Roofs”
How to Avoid Costly Mistakes When Selling Solar: An Interview with Andy Black from On Grid Solar Anyone who is anyone in the solar industry has heard of and probably knows who Andy Black of On Grid Solar is. Andy created, as far as I know it, the first solar sales tool in 2005 which continues to… Continue reading “How to Avoid Costly Mistakes When Selling Solar: An Interview with Andy Black from On Grid Solar”
What Is The Value of the NABCEP Certification? The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) has become the primary certification entity for the solar industry and they continue to add more certifications. There is continued debate online about the value of the certifications. Some states are… Continue reading “What Is The Value of the NABCEP Certification?”
FEATURED ARTICLE: Vote: What are the Best Solar Panels on the Market? We have trained over 1,000 solar contractors that are starting solar companies or working in some of the largest solar integrators on the east coast. Module selection is a huge part of the process when building a company and completing… Continue reading “FEATURED ARTICLE: Vote: What are the Best Solar Panels on the Market?”
Which is Better: Solar Thermal Flat Plate or Evacuated Tube Collectors? Solar thermal flat plate or evacuated tube collectors? This is an incredibly common question in the solar thermal industry. Strangely enough, many people weigh in, and take different sides. Like a Red Sox vs Yankees type of rivalry, it’s a heated debate. In the end, it… Continue reading “Which is Better: Solar Thermal Flat Plate or Evacuated Tube Collectors?”
Software Can Decrease Your Costs, Close More Sales and Grow your Solar Business I’m always on the hunt for the new products, trends and technologies that are decreasing the cost of clean energy solutions. In the past few years the innovation has mainly come from decreasing the cost of the large system components… Continue reading “Software Can Decrease Your Costs, Close More Sales and Grow your Solar Business”
5 Helpful Tips to Sizing and Selecting Solar Thermal Equipment Today’s guest post comes from Bob Ramlow, the instructor if our Solar Thermal Boot Camp. Bob Ramlow has more than 30 years of experience with solar-energy systems and is a co-founder and Board member of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.… Continue reading “5 Helpful Tips to Sizing and Selecting Solar Thermal Equipment”
Family Business: Solar Training Only Your Dad Can Offer Tony Maglio, president of Maglio Solar, got started in the electrical business working with his father. In this short video, Tony tells the story of the most important lesson he ever learned – don’t trust anybody, even your father. Did… Continue reading “Family Business: Solar Training Only Your Dad Can Offer”
Maximize Solar Job Profitability and Speed with Building Integrated Solar Panels One thing we know about students who have gone through our training courses is that they’re always looking for the best products. At Heatspring, we want to keep you abreast of the best products in the solar and geothermal industry.… Continue reading “Maximize Solar Job Profitability and Speed with Building Integrated Solar Panels”
“With this Solar Training, Can I Become an Installer?” Here’s a question that we get a lot: After taking your course, will I have enough knowledge to install a complete solar pv system? It’s one of those questions that is difficult to answer because it’s such a loaded question… Continue reading ““With this Solar Training, Can I Become an Installer?””
How to Overcome the Top Five Objections in Selling Geothermal and Solar Getting jobs is the hardest part of the renewable energy industry. My goal is to provide you with the appropriate resources and advice needed to sell jobs and grow your business. These objections will come up equally when selling geothermal,… Continue reading “How to Overcome the Top Five Objections in Selling Geothermal and Solar”