The Basics of Utility Transmission for Utility-Scale Solar Access to high voltage transmission lines is integral for utility-scale solar projects. Transmission is part of the high voltage system that connects generation (like utility-scale solar power plants or coal-fired power plants) with load centers, subtransmission, and distribution. Essentially, high… Continue reading “The Basics of Utility Transmission for Utility-Scale Solar”
New Course: Connecting Utility-Scale Solar PV to Distribution Systems The United States is forecasted to add an additional 21.8 GW of utility-scale solar in 2022 and 24.1 GW in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In fact, they expect solar additions to account for nearly half of… Continue reading “New Course: Connecting Utility-Scale Solar PV to Distribution Systems”
Addressing Common Hazards on Solar Installation Projects Safety should always be the top priority on solar installations. Running a safe jobsite means properly managing the risk that your team faces each day. In solar installation work, your installation team regularly faces what the Occupational Safety and Health… Continue reading “Addressing Common Hazards on Solar Installation Projects”
Solar Job Highlight: Solar Service Technician As a part of HeatSpring’s free Solar Career Pathways course, professionals from across the solar industry provide students with an inside look at their careers through bite-sized interviews. Professionals share the details on what their jobs entail, their day-to-day activities,… Continue reading “Solar Job Highlight: Solar Service Technician”
Characteristics that Define Electro Chemical Battery Performance It’s no secret that the energy storage market is growing fast. Storage incentives in markets like Connecticut and Maine are making battery systems more advantageous. Concerns about grid reliability and resilience in markets like California and Louisiana are making batteries… Continue reading “Characteristics that Define Electro Chemical Battery Performance”
New Free Course: Introduction to Ecological Design Designing with natural patterns and principles in mind can help us to make better, healthier choices for ourselves and the world around us. As permaculture co-originator David Holmgren said, “Design is as natural as breathing and, like breathing, most of… Continue reading “New Free Course: Introduction to Ecological Design”
Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE) Leadership Forum Kicks Off Its Second Year Hosting Virtually The Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE) Leadership Forum will be held virtually from February 22-24, 2022 with speakers and attendees joining from across the country. The Leadership Forum is an annual, one-of-a-kind professional opportunity that includes career… Continue reading “Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE) Leadership Forum Kicks Off Its Second Year Hosting Virtually”
Reimagining Disaster Response with Solar Generators: A Conversation with Footprint Project HeatSpring’s Brit Heller connected with Will Heegaard, Operations Director, and Jamie Swezey, Program Coordinator, at Footprint Project. They help build back greener after climate disasters by mobilizing cleaner energy to communities in crisis. Footprint Project develops and deploys mobile solar… Continue reading “Reimagining Disaster Response with Solar Generators: A Conversation with Footprint Project”
Energy Storage Policy – a Look at the Most Recent States with Energy Storage Goals Energy storage is an imperative part of a renewable energy future. Storage provides significant benefits to our electric grid like increased reliability, increased resilience, cost savings, the ability to integrate diverse energy sources, and lessening our impact on the environment… Continue reading “Energy Storage Policy – a Look at the Most Recent States with Energy Storage Goals”
Recycling PV Equipment – Why We All Should Be Talking About the End-Of-Life of Solar PV Systems: A Conversation with Kate Collardson of SolarRecycle.org HeatSpring’s Brit Heller sits down with Kate Collardson, one of the founders of SolarRecycle.org, about the need for the solar industry to begin addressing solar power plant’s decommissioning and recycling for projects as they are being built today in order… Continue reading “Recycling PV Equipment – Why We All Should Be Talking About the End-Of-Life of Solar PV Systems: A Conversation with Kate Collardson of SolarRecycle.org”
New Free Course: Solar Career Pathways Solar power will account for nearly half of new U.S. electric generating capacity in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. With large increases in solar capacity comes huge increases in solar jobs. To showcase the abundance of opportunities… Continue reading “New Free Course: Solar Career Pathways”
Chris LaForge Updates and Improves “Designing Small Scale PV Systems with Energy Storage” Energy storage is the fastest moving area within the solar energy industry. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that 10 GW of battery storage capacity will be added to the grid over the next two years. As more storage is… Continue reading “Chris LaForge Updates and Improves “Designing Small Scale PV Systems with Energy Storage””
We Need an Installation Standard for Ventilation Buildings are getting tighter to save energy while COVID is drawing attention to the importance of proper ventilation. How much ventilation is needed? For residential buildings, there’s a widely accepted standard. ASHRAE 62.2 “Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in… Continue reading “We Need an Installation Standard for Ventilation”
Tiny Home Courses Land on HeatSpring Much has changed over the past few years. The realm of what’s possible at our jobs and how we live has broadened. While tiny home living has been growing for years, the pandemic has accelerated the movement. Between the (lack… Continue reading “Tiny Home Courses Land on HeatSpring”
Sharing Solar Developer Secrets for 10 Years: The Enduring Value of the Solar MBA The Solar Executive MBA launched in 2012 and there’s still nothing quite like it. I sat down with instructors Chris Lord and Keith Cronin to talk about the origins of the course and why it’s still such a unique course.… Continue reading “Sharing Solar Developer Secrets for 10 Years: The Enduring Value of the Solar MBA”
Five Reasons to Join HeatSpring for NABCEP PV Associate Training at the 2022 NABCEP CE Conference Are you looking to start or advance your career in solar energy this year? Are you hoping to level up your solar knowledge by gaining the NABCEP Associate credential and beyond? Do you want to build your expertise in one… Continue reading “Five Reasons to Join HeatSpring for NABCEP PV Associate Training at the 2022 NABCEP CE Conference”
Selecting DAS Equipment on Utility Scale PV Projects Data acquisition systems (DAS) are often employed on small utility scale solar projects to gather information about the performance and conditions of a site. Various sensors, meters, and equipment collect the data that must then be evaluated and visualized within… Continue reading “Selecting DAS Equipment on Utility Scale PV Projects”
Design Considerations when Sizing Grid-tied Solar versus Off-grid Solar Appropriately sizing a customer’s solar system is imperative for happy clients. Correct sizing is even more critical with off-grid solar systems, as the utility grid is not available to use as a power source. Needlessly oversizing an off-grid system means… Continue reading “Design Considerations when Sizing Grid-tied Solar versus Off-grid Solar”
Agrivoltaics in Action – Jack’s Solar Garden Connecting the dots between clean energy, local food, and community building may seem like a utopian dream, but for Byron Kominek, founder of Jack’s Solar Garden, it is an intentional undertaking that has been generations in the making. By co-locating… Continue reading “Agrivoltaics in Action – Jack’s Solar Garden”
Agrivoltaics: a multi-faceted approach to climate change Climate change affects everyone and farmers are feeling the pressure now more than ever. Higher temperatures, dwindling water supplies, and a challenging economy are pushing farmers to explore new revenue streams and opportunities for their land. What is agrivoltaics? Local… Continue reading “Agrivoltaics: a multi-faceted approach to climate change”