White Paper: Best Practices for Teaching Clean Energy Skills This is the second white paper in our “Researcher-in-Residence” series. A PDF version of this white paper, along with supplementary videos, is available in the free course, “What Data Tells Us About Teaching & Learning Clean Energy Skills“. Courses on… Continue reading “White Paper: Best Practices for Teaching Clean Energy Skills”
Inverter-Based Resources Reactive Power Capabilities This is the third of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” Here’s the last article – “Reactive Power and Transmission & Distribution Operations” – in case you need to catch up. Inverters are a… Continue reading “Inverter-Based Resources Reactive Power Capabilities”
New Free Course Announcement: Construction Communication Methodology Construction communication methodology is a critical, yet rarely discussed, element that shapes the overall outcomes of a construction project and the experiences of those working there. With the countless timely needs that require our focus on construction projects, it can… Continue reading “New Free Course Announcement: Construction Communication Methodology”
Reactive Power and Transmission & Distribution Operations This is the second of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the differences and relationship between real, reactive, and apparent power. We also looked at… Continue reading “Reactive Power and Transmission & Distribution Operations”
Solar Profitability Calculator Now Included with HeatSpring Membership Starting today, for a limited time, Keith Cronin’s “Solar Profitability Calculator” is free for HeatSpring Members. Predicting profitability is the difference between a growing company or a shrinking one. The solar industry is struggling with low margin projects. Every dollar… Continue reading “Solar Profitability Calculator Now Included with HeatSpring Membership”
What Are Reactive Power and VArs? This is the first of five articles in the series “Reactive Power in Utility-Scale Solar PV Applications.” Right after I started my first job out of college, I found myself presenting at a meeting and talking about reactive power and… Continue reading “What Are Reactive Power and VArs?”
How to Get Your NABCEP PV Technical Sales Certification The NABCEP PV Technical Sales (PVTS) Board Certification was created for experienced solar sales professionals who have demonstrated knowledge in qualifying prospects, site analysis, conceptual system design, performance analysis and financial incentives of PV systems. PVTS Board Certified Professionals can… Continue reading “How to Get Your NABCEP PV Technical Sales Certification”
The Most Important Factors When Specifying a Transformer Going from designing residential solar systems to commercial and industrial (C&I) solar systems requires new knowledge in many areas. One area in particular is equipment selection. When megawatt-scale solar systems are designed and put into operation, medium voltage electrical equipment… Continue reading “The Most Important Factors When Specifying a Transformer”
Quick Trick to Find the Roof Slope Using Rise Over Run In residential solar, knowing the roof pitch is an essential part of preparing for any solar design and installation. The roof pitch can affect a system’s energy production. Sometimes, steep roofs include a cost adder because it is more difficult… Continue reading “Quick Trick to Find the Roof Slope Using Rise Over Run”
Troubleshooting a String Inverter Functioning inverters are absolutely key to a successfully operating residential solar system. In the event there’s an issue with the string inverter onsite, the system downtime means the homeowner can’t use any of their own solar energy during that period.… Continue reading “Troubleshooting a String Inverter”
EPA Section 608 Certification – Now on HeatSpring Now you can get your EPA Section 608 Certification through HeatSpring. The course includes three 100-question practice exams and a full year to ask instructor Brynn Cooksey as many questions as you want. We offer a guarantee that you will… Continue reading “EPA Section 608 Certification – Now on HeatSpring”
The Ultimate Guide to the NABCEP PV Installation Professional Certification NABCEP’s PV Installation Professional (PVIP) Certification is considered the gold standard for solar PV professionals. It’s intended for folks who have been in the industry for a while and find themselves often (if not always) in a decision-making role that… Continue reading “The Ultimate Guide to the NABCEP PV Installation Professional Certification”
Help Your Team Get a Foundation in Solar with this Free Bundle of Courses to Onboard New Installers Residential solar saw its biggest year in 2022 with 40% growth in installations and the residential market adding 9,500 jobs, according to the Solar Jobs Census 2022. The long-term demand for skilled residential solar installers is expected to grow as… Continue reading “Help Your Team Get a Foundation in Solar with this Free Bundle of Courses to Onboard New Installers”
Pathways to Solar: Jan’s Journey to Leading Installs Employment of solar photovoltaic installers is projected to grow 22 percent from 2022 to 2032, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statics. To meet this surge in demand, the industry will… Continue reading “Pathways to Solar: Jan’s Journey to Leading Installs”
Battery Capacity Basics for Solar and Storage When choosing the right energy storage device, we must consider what we are doing with them, where we will put them, how much we will work on them, and how long we want them to last. Of course, all of these… Continue reading “Battery Capacity Basics for Solar and Storage”
Solar Onboarding 102 – Now Free for Members & Their Friends Starting today, for a limited time, “Solar Onboarding 102 for Non-Solar Professionals” is free for HeatSpring Members and their guests. Members can give the class for free to somebody they know who wants to get started in the solar industry.… Continue reading “Solar Onboarding 102 – Now Free for Members & Their Friends”
One Year Trial of HelioScope Now Included in Megawatt Design Course Through Aurora Partnership HeatSpring and Aurora are teaming up to provide a pretty incredible hands-on learning experience for students. Now when students enroll in Megawatt Design, they will get access to HelioScope by Aurora for the duration of the course, which is one… Continue reading “One Year Trial of HelioScope Now Included in Megawatt Design Course Through Aurora Partnership”
Our Most Popular Free Class Gets an Update With just under 10,000 students enrolled, HeatSpring’s free Introduction to Solar PV Design, Installation, and Code just got a major upgrade, courtesy of our amazing instructor – Sean White. If you’ve never taken a course with Sean, this is a… Continue reading “Our Most Popular Free Class Gets an Update “
White Paper: Best Practices for Learning Clean Energy Skills This is the first white paper in our “Researcher-in-Residence” series. A PDF version of this white paper is available in the free course, “What Data Tells Us About Teaching & Learning Clean Energy Skills“. In this article we examine three… Continue reading “White Paper: Best Practices for Learning Clean Energy Skills”
What Data Tells Us About Teaching & Learning Clean Energy Skills “What Data Tells Us About Teaching & Learning Clean Energy Skills” is a new free course where Brick Maier is publishing all of his findings from the Researcher-in-Residence project. About HeatSpring’s “Researcher in Residence” Project Enrollment is way up at… Continue reading “What Data Tells Us About Teaching & Learning Clean Energy Skills”