regulate [RE-wrenches]

[Eric Smiley]

Definitely a double edged sword. As PV matures, more customers will be
looking for "proof" of competance. Unless its a referral, how else does
a person decide which PV company will deliver? On the other hand, a
licenced contractor has more over head and has to charge more.

In the past the wrenches that I know have often found a friendly
licenced electrician to get the permit, supervise the installation work
and crawl around the attic running branch circuits. A signed letter from
the electrician outlining the work one performed then counts towards
obtaining a restricted ticket (see below).

Generally, I have found electricians to be very curious about PV, and
once they discover there isn't any money to be made, they are quite
happy to let the wrenches do the customer education, design, etc.

In BC, we have a restricted trade worker qualifcation for PV. It is
similiar to the certificates for Entertainment industry workers, Cable
TV installers, electrical appliance technicians (hot water tanks,
garburators), etc.  It requires one or two years (1800 to 3600 hours!)
of relevant experience depending on what training is undertaken. It is
very restricted though. Max. 50 Vdc, 4000 Ah of battery, 5 kW of
inverter and no branch circuit wiring. There is pressure to scrap this
certificate by those who would like to protect their turf. But it allows
wrenches to take a correspondance course, gather proof of experience in
the form of signed letters. The wrench gains some legitimacy in the eyes
of inspectors and customers.

There is another avenue here in BC as well. I don't know if it exists
elsewhere. Essentially a certified representitive of an equipment
manufacturer can install that manufacturers equipment without a special
licence.

In our modern society where neighbours are strangers, bureaucracy,
licences and certification replace the old face-to-face, word of mouth
methods of establishing a reputation. PV is moving out of the anarchist
backwoods and into the city where the bureaucrats live.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Smiley
Project Leader - BCIT Technology Centre
Photovoltaic Energy Applied Research Lab (PEARL) - BCIT
ph: (604)432-8657 www.bcit.ca/~tc/pearl/index.htm

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