PV Installer Certified Program/Please Read [RE-wrenches]

Sat Dec 22 13:36:56 PST 2001

the PV INSTALLERS certified  PROGRAMi is dead IT HAS BEEN CANCELED do tq
oppisition from the collector manfactures  Gator T O M
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allan Sindelar" <allan at positiveenergysolar.com>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Friday, December 21, 2001 9:03 PM
Subject: Re: PV Installer Certified Program/Please Read [RE-wrenches]

> Fellow Wrenches,
>     I asked the contact person for the PV installer certification effort
> that has been discussed in the last couple of weeks to prepare "...an
> introductory piece explaining the purpose, history, justification,
benefits,
> costs, committee makeup, etc. of the
> national certification effort..." to get out to our forum ASAP.
>     Her response follows. Please save this until after the holiday break,
> read it carefully, and then let's contribute our input to this. This needs
> our support behind it to make it happen, and as you will read, with our
> input it will be of great benefit to us as independent installers.
>     Thank you.
> Allan at Positive Energy
>
> December 21, 2001
>
> Dear Wrenches:
>
> Until the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)
> released its Proposed Certification Requirements two weeks ago, most of
you
> had likely never heard of the organization or its efforts.  NABCEP is a
> small nonprofit in the preliminary stages of developing (hopefully) PV
> practitioner certification, and we haven't done much "marketing," beyond
> conference presentations, workshops, magazine articles, and word of mouth.
> This is a summary of who and what NABCEP is, and why we are working toward
> PV certification.
>
> Mark Fitzgerald, of the Institute for Sustainable Power (some of you may
> know him), has been involved in the solar field for more than 20
> years--mostly the information and education side.  The idea for PV
> practitioner certification and training program accreditation was sparked
at
> a Rockefeller Foundation meeting on renewable energy that took place in
> October 1995.  At that meeting, an official from the international finance
> and insurance industry indicated that he would be interested in funding PV
> installations in developing countries, but could not do so without some
> industry-acknowledged credential indicating that the installing
practitioner
> was qualified to perform the work. Without a third-party credential, he
> could not justify loaning money to PV projects because improper
installation
> and maintenance work was leading to a high system failure rate,
essentially
> a waste of funding efforts.
>
> This led Mark to found the Institute for Sustainable Power, Inc. (ISP) to
> work on the development of international quality standards for the
> certification of PV practitioners.
>
> Mark worked with PV industry stakeholders to develop ISP as a global
> framework.  ISP is working with solar stakeholders to help develop the
> practitioner standards and will accredit training organizations (FSEC
become
> the 1st accredited org in the U.S. this past summer).  Each participating
> country will develop its own administration and specifications for a
> national certification program.  National organizations will consist of
> representatives chosen by relevant stakeholders within the country.
>
> So "NABCEP"--the North American Board of Certified Energy
Practitioners--is
> the national organization for the U.S. and possibly Canada.  Mark began
work
> to form NABCEP in 2000 as U.S. efforts to study and implement practitioner
> certification systems began to heat up.  Mark polled stakeholders and
> subject matter experts in the U.S. to identify potential board members and
> Technical committee members.
>
> FSEC was an early key player, especially as they were already working on
> training and testing for Florida PV installers. In addition, Jim Dunlop,
> Bill Brooks, and others had been working on developing and validating a
Task
> Analysis for PV Installers since 1998.  A committee of 11 PV experts
> assembled, including Mark McCray, Bill Brooks, John Wiles, and others.
> These people are volunteering their time (!) to help establish the skills
> and knowledge requirements for competent PV installation.
>
> In April 2001the interested stakeholder representatives came together for
> the first time as a provisional national board.  The volunteers used two
> guides in identifying other necessary representatives on the board: 1)
> Identify key stakeholder groups not already participating, especially
those
> affected by certification and those with important input into the
> certification process; 2) Identify the appropriate individuals to
represent
> the key stakeholder groups.
>
> Since their first meeting in April 2001, the NABCEP Board has grown to
> include thirteen members and five alternates from those representing
> installers (Les Nelson and Don Loweburg), industry (SEIA, Xantrex),
training
> and education (NJATC, community colleges), government agencies (Sandia,
> NREL, DOE), labor (IBEW, NECA), and states (IREC).  The goal is consensus
> and broad stakeholder input.  This method should create a certification
that
> is a valid quality designation--while avoiding becoming subject to one
> special interest (like individual manufacturers or the government).
>
> FSEC continues to be involved, currently working to develop a prototype
> exam.  Meanwhile, the Tech Committee began the process of developing the
> certification requirements (which have been posted to this List for
comment)
> and the board, after MUCH disagreement and argument, finally approved the
> current version for release for public comment.  We released this version
in
> the hope of getting stakeholder comment to guide us in developing the next
> version.  We knew that different stakeholder groups might have very strong
> feelings about the rigor of the experience and training prerequisites--and
> we are VERY interested in hearing those comments. We need to hear from
> current installers more than anyone else to know whether these draft
> requirements are reasonable or not.
>
> What are NABCEP's Goals?
> NABCEP has three goals.  First, certification is a way to protect the
> consumer.  Even if the PV hardware is fabulous, faulty installation
creates
> ineffective or dangerous systems.  Consumers--in any field--deserve
quality
> work.  When safety is at stake, quality work becomes an imperative.
>
> Second, certification is a way to promote the renewable energy industry.
PV
> will not become a widespread, successful application in U.S. until systems
> are dependably installed, and are reliable and safe. Each time a system
> fails, or even just fails to live up to consumer expectations, that is a
> black mark for the industry that will impede its growth.  To wit: solar
> thermal in the 1970s and 80s.
>
> Third, certification should provide value to practitioners.  This happens
as
> the PV market expands through consumer awareness and satisfaction.  It
also
> happens when experienced, skilled practitioners are able to set themselves
> apart from the unqualified competition by displaying their certification
> credential.
>
> NABCEP will need to charge an application fee and a testing fee to cover
the
> costs of providing the certification.  We have not set our fees, but we
will
> be reasonable in setting them.  We understand that if this VOLUNTARY
> certification costs too much, even the potential benefits of certification
> will not overcome the cost barrier.  We do not expect to break even on
> administrative costs until after a few years of providing
certification--and
> that may be optimistic.
>
> Another reason why this certification is being developed is to provide
those
> states that are beginning to develop PV licensing requirements with a
> national standard on which to build.  As Larry Elliott pointed out on
12/21
> on the Wrenches list, an electrician's license is not necessarily a
> predictor of quality electrical work.  If states develop piecemeal PV
> licensing requirements, those licenses might be no more valid than an
> electrician's license sometimes seems to be.  A national,
industry-developed
> voluntary certification program with carefully developed standards,
> supported by a validated Task Analysis, will provide a wonderful starting
> point for state licensing programs.  In addition, nationally developed
> standards mean that the certificate would be portable, that there is less
> bureaucracy in going from state to state.  State-by-state development of
PV
> licenses could be a messy prospect.
>
> What's Next?
> NABCEP originally wanted to get its PV installer certification program up
> and running by June 2002.  We are currently facing some fairly difficult
> challenges in this effort.  However, we plan to move forward.  This
includes
> collecting comments from subject matter experts on the task analysis to be
> incorporated into a final document.  The certification process will be
> refined based on the stakeholder comments we receive. The exam will be
> developed and validated and a passing score will be set. Finally, an
> administrative organization will be contracted to run the certification
> program, in an effort to keep costs to a minimum.  When these tasks have
> been accomplished, NABCEP will be ready to begin certifying PV installers.
>
> How to Contact NABCEP
> Information about NABCEP is available on the Web at: www.nabcep.org.
>
> NABCEP administrative support is currently provided by Wendy Parker of the
> Institute for Sustainable Power (ISP).  She can be reached at (720)
344-0341
> or wparker at nabcep.org
>
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