Welcome NABCEP members [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

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Hello Bob-O,

Thanks for sharing this information. Opening up the market to non-union and 
non-traditional installers expands the market, creates jobs and teaches 
bureaucrats about real-world diversity. Keep up the good work.

FYI - Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) does not require 
NABCEP certified installers, but does require contractors or homeowner 
installers to have taken LADWP's PV training class and to meet other 
requirements to qualify for their $0.14/kWh incentive. You probably know 
that most other California utilities defer to the State Contractors License 
Board and local building and planning offices to ensure that PV systems are 
installed safely.

Best regards,
Joel Davidson

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob-O Schultze, Electron Connection" <econnect at snowcrest.net>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: Welcome NABCEP members [RE-wrenches]


>
> Hello Joel,
> From the start and continuing to this day, it is the NABCEP Board's 
> desire for the certification to be totally voluntary. Whenever a less- 
> than-voluntary program is proposed by some agency or another, we 
> generally will write a letter to that agency reinforcing that desire. 
> Unfortunately, as you point out, what any given state or local  government 
> does or doesn't do is totally out of NABCEP's control.
> This is unfortunate but understandable. Agencies want the best bang  for 
> their buck. One of the best ways to get that is by having systems 
> installed by proven competent installers. Rather than reinvent an 
> expensive testing program (like that's gonna happen in these days of 
> tight government budgets) they adopt ours and call it good- or at  least 
> better. While it may not seem to be the best approach in CA  where you 
> play, having a NABCEP cert has actually opened up some  other states' PV 
> programs to non-union and other than traditional  licensing of PV 
> installers.
> Because I sit on NABCEP's Board and because I was very involved in  the 
> adoption of OR's Renewable Energy Technician license, I know far  more 
> about many states licensing requirements than I ever wanted to  know. 
> Believe me when I tell you that a CA solar license is FAR  easier to get 
> than in most states. In that regard, if a more  restrictive licensing 
> state wants to accept NABCEP certification as a  path into their PV 
> program, they are opening their state up to  competent installers far 
> sooner than waiting for the IBEW or  traditional non-union electrical 
> tradesmen to come up to speed.
> That, my friend, is a good thing.
> Best, Bob-O
>
> On Aug 26, 2006, at 10:05 AM, Joel Davidson wrote:
>
>>
>> Welcome NABCEP members. I invite you to search NABCEP in the RE- wrenches 
>> archive: http://lists.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/read
>>
>> Around Christmas 2002, NABCEP said it was going to be strictly  voluntary 
>> and Matt wrote that the certification juggernaut will be  impossible to 
>> stop (below). Almost 4 years later, the PV world has  changed 
>> dramatically. Over 2 MW of PV are installed daily, IBEW's  750,000 
>> members have staked their claim for PV work and tens of  thousands of 
>> trained European and Japanese PV professionals are  power blocs that 
>> command politicians' attention. Even all-powerful  UL is being forced to 
>> recognize the global influence of the  International Electrotechnical 
>> Commission's (IEC) on PV. NABCEP PV  professionals deserve recognition 
>> for their knowledge and  experience, but overwhelming market forces are 
>> bringing PV into the  mainstream worldwide faster than this small, 
>> dedicated organization  can or should attempt to control. I think it 
>> would serve the public  and industry better if NABCEP offered its 
>> voluntary national  certification program to a wider audience instead of 
>> allowing  itself to be written into PV incentive program requirements.
>>
>> Joel Davidson
>
>
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