The Duck Curve: One Picture Explains the Rise of Solar + Storage Kerim Baran teaches our new “Solar Entrepreneurship” course. Last week we had our first live, interactive lecture. It was lightly attended, fun, and I learned something really interesting: The Duck Curve. Here’s how Kerim explains The Duck Curve: Net metering… Continue reading “The Duck Curve: One Picture Explains the Rise of Solar + Storage”
With a Mission of Boosting Solar + Storage, Chris Brown Makes his Mark In the 1990s, when Chris Brown was in high school, concerns about global warming sparked his interest in renewable energy. He knew that climate disasters were in his future. “And I was convinced that it was inevitable that we’d deplete… Continue reading “With a Mission of Boosting Solar + Storage, Chris Brown Makes his Mark”
Industry Growth Creates Opportunities for Solar Entrepreneurs Ever think about starting a solar business? The solar industry is growing and creating a lot of jobs. Some of those jobs will be at new firms – startups – founded by people like you. Smart people who see a… Continue reading “Industry Growth Creates Opportunities for Solar Entrepreneurs”
Ariel Horowitz Awarded Genius Award for Her Work to De-Risk Solar & Microgrid Growth Please join us in congratulating Ariel Horowitz from MassCEC, winner of our latest Genius Award. Ariel’s job is to look into the future and de-risk future solar and microgrid projects and encourage innovative approaches and partnerships. Her work helps our… Continue reading “Ariel Horowitz Awarded Genius Award for Her Work to De-Risk Solar & Microgrid Growth”
Production and Productivity on a Solar Construction Site “You can’t manage what you don’t measure” is an old quote that speaks a great deal of truth – especially when applied to the large scale solar construction site. One of the core features of a solar power plant is… Continue reading “Production and Productivity on a Solar Construction Site”
Understanding Solar Project Finance Risks In an ideal world, solar developers would find an appropriate site for solar, the local utility would offer low interconnection costs, the investor would receive a reasonable financial return and the surrounding community would welcome the project. This would make… Continue reading “Understanding Solar Project Finance Risks”
GRID Alternatives’ Heller & Valdez Win Genius Grant for Their Leadership in Solar Job Training Please join us in congratulating Brittany Heller and April Valdez from GRID Alternatives Colorado, winners of our latest Genius Grant Award. Brittany and April don’t talk about solar jobs – they make them happen. HeatSpring Genius Grants are cash payments… Continue reading “GRID Alternatives’ Heller & Valdez Win Genius Grant for Their Leadership in Solar Job Training”
Why This Long-Time Solar Advocate is Having So Much Fun “We are at the leapfrog stage in renewable energy. This is a paradigm shift. This is the answer, the holy grail,” says Christopher LaForge, co-instructor of two new courses from Heatspring, Utility Scale Commercial & Industrial Storage 101 and Utility… Continue reading “Why This Long-Time Solar Advocate is Having So Much Fun”
Humbly Making an Impact on the Geothermal Industry HeatSpring instructor Ryan Carda doesn’t like to brag about the positive impact he’s had on the geothermal industry. But Brian Hayden, co-founder of HeatSpring, is happy to sing Carda’s praise. “Ryan is the ultimate teacher because he’s so smart and… Continue reading “Humbly Making an Impact on the Geothermal Industry”
Marc Shackelford-Rowell Awarded Genius Grant for Speeding Up Solar Permits in Philadelphia Please join us in congratulating Marc Shackelford-Rowell, the third Genius Grant award recipient for 2021. Marc identified a problem when he joined the solar industry – the residential permitting process takes too long. So what did Marc do? He helped… Continue reading “Marc Shackelford-Rowell Awarded Genius Grant for Speeding Up Solar Permits in Philadelphia”
Andrew Obok Opok Awarded Genius Grant for Innovative Solar Training Initiative Please join us in congratulating Andrew Obok Opok, our second Genius Grant award recipient for 2021. Andrew is an engineer and an entrepreneur. He is professionalizing the solar pv industry in his native Botswana and we are proud to support… Continue reading “Andrew Obok Opok Awarded Genius Grant for Innovative Solar Training Initiative”
Basic CAD Training – Where Should a New Solar Designer Start? My job is to help growing solar companies manage their training program. It’s the best. But I don’t teach the classes, so I rely on smart people like Sean White to answer technical questions. Here’s a question I get a… Continue reading “Basic CAD Training – Where Should a New Solar Designer Start?”
Justine Sanchez is Passionate About Moving the Solar Industry Forward Justine Sanchez, lead instructor for “NEC 2017 & 2020 Solar + Storage Requirements“, has installed solar electric systems, served as an editor for Home Power Magazine, worked as a PV technical trainer for Solar Energy International (SEI) and served as… Continue reading “Justine Sanchez is Passionate About Moving the Solar Industry Forward”
David J. Goldstein Awarded Genius Grant for Multifamily HVAC Solution Please join us in congratulating David J. Goldstein, the first Genius Grant award recipient for 2021. David is an engineer and an entrepreneur. He has self-funded the development of a new HVAC solution that has potential to make multifamily housing… Continue reading “David J. Goldstein Awarded Genius Grant for Multifamily HVAC Solution”
New Class! – NEC 2017 & 2020 Solar + Storage Requirements New Course Update: A new course, 10-Hour Energy Storage 2020 NEC Class, taught by Sean White is HeatSpring’s current course that covers energy storage and the NEC. (Updated July 2022) Check out this new short course from Justine Sanchez and… Continue reading “New Class! – NEC 2017 & 2020 Solar + Storage Requirements”
Evaluating the Financial Returns of Energy Storage A number of factors now contribute to changes that allow storage to reap returns for owners and operators, says Wes Kennedy, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar Plus Storage course. “Storage makes money with demand charge management, time of use arbitrage… Continue reading “Evaluating the Financial Returns of Energy Storage”
What Happened in Texas? February 2021 Power Outages At its highest level, electric power elevates us in so many ways. It helps us build our awareness of local and global events, understand the experiences and perspectives of others, and collaborate with others to enact change. It is a… Continue reading “What Happened in Texas? February 2021 Power Outages”
HeatSpring is the Official PVA Training Provider at the 2021 NABCEP CE Conference We’re trying something new in 2021. Why not? We’ve been named the official PVA training provider for the 2021 NABCEP CE Conference. If you’re interested in live training at one of the best solar industry events – you can learn… Continue reading “HeatSpring is the Official PVA Training Provider at the 2021 NABCEP CE Conference”
We Just Passed One Million Lessons Learned on HeatSpring On February 7, 2021 Rachel Chambers finished a “Module Fundamentals” video in her NABCEP Solar PV Associate Course. She’s getting her PVA credential to level-up in her Solar Photovoltaic Designer role at Southern Current in Charleston, SC. People like Rachel… Continue reading “We Just Passed One Million Lessons Learned on HeatSpring”
How to Get into the Renewable Energy Industry Jack Bishop of Portland, Oregon recently graduated from Tulane University with hopes of entering the renewable energy industry and doing his part to address environmental challenges. While he had taken numerous courses related to the industry, he didn’t know where… Continue reading “How to Get into the Renewable Energy Industry”