PV Installer Certified Program [RE-wrenches]

[graham at solarexpert.com]

Allan,

Thanks for the ranting.  I agree that substandard solar installations
must not become commonplace.  Knowing that you are helping draft the
NABCEP Certification Program is a relief.  To be honest with you I had
never heard of the NABCEP before.  My greatest concern was that the
people behind the certification were manufacturers who would use the
certification to direct customers to installers of their products.

The California Contractors License board is preparing a new and more
comprehensive C-46 solar exam.  The new exam is expected to be ready by
the summer of 2002.

I am continually studying and seeking more information about PV with the
intention of providing my customers high quality and safe solar systems.
I will be sure to do my best to pass the NABCEP test.

Lately I have been installing Siemens earthsafe systems in Los Angeles,
the only systems that get the full LADWP $6.00 per watt rebate.  Upon
installation completion the building inspector checks out the job.  The
signed permit is sent to the LADWP who sends out their own inspector,
Joe Stadler.  Joe is very knowledgeable about PV and makes sure every
solar installation in LADWP territory is a high quality installation.
We have to use wire rated for 90 degree C wet location, waterproof wire
nuts inside weather tight boxes (we even drill a weep hole on our
boxes), inverters have to be mounted on strut as opposed to being in
contact with a wall and all rooftop hardware must be stainless steel.  

I like what the LADWP is doing, they are a forward-looking utility which
is promoting the use of solar power and also making sure that all
installations are safe and effective.

I guess I felt like I was already being regulated enough, but now that I
have given more thought to this subject it seems that stringent
oversight must be applied nationwide.

Graham Owen
GO Solar



-----Original Message-----
From: Allan Sindelar [mailto:allan at positiveenergysolar.com] 
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2001 3:08 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: PV Installer Certified Program [RE-wrenches]


Wrenches,
[Rant: ON]
     I have previously posted that I support all valid licenses and
certifications that will help our industry mature. PV systems are
becoming increasingly mainstream, and are catching more and more
attention of everyone from inspectors to homebuilders' associations to
lenders to insurance companies to lawyers. We are seriously immature as
far as any sort of self-established standards to maintain professional
standards for qualifying people to install systems. We have all seen bad
work. We see it in California, where everything is regulated to the
point of absurdity-remember Doug Pratt's posting about his brother's
installation that was incapable of functioning? We see it here in New
Mexico, where the only requirement is licensure as an Electrical
Contractor. Most of the people installing PV in our state don't have a
license, the licensing process can be routinely scammed, and we often
rant about poor quality installations we see that don't meet code or
work, even if inspected and passed.
     We became Xantrex Certified Dealers in the first round. This isn't
because of a great affection for Xantrex (hoo boy.) but because it was a
valid first attempt to set a standard for we wrenches who are doing the
job right to be recognized as such (thanks, Pagan), to set ourselves
apart from the pickup-truck cowboys, and to charge more for our
knowledge and the quality of our work. Most customers can't tell the
difference between a killer system and a mediocre one. We wrenches need
all the ways we can to set ourselves apart to the customer.
     The NABCEP Certification Program is a valid attempt to provide now
a structure for our industry to mature in the future. I have not seen
the kind of "another layer of bureaucracy" and other knee-jerk
criticisms that a few of the wrenches have expressed. This needs our
support, not our criticism, as we who do good work are the ones who will
most benefit from a set of national standards.
     I spent a month up at Home Power Central back around ten years ago,
getting PV training by osmosis and putting together the structure for
Richard's Advanced PV course at SEI later that summer. Home Power had
just started doing color covers. People would write to HP ranting up and
down about how the mag was becoming another slick Outside and corporate
lapdog. Richard and Karen saw that they needed to get a more
professional package for newsstand sales and mainstream advancement of
renewables. They were right.. There's a sense I get that the resistance
to a national certification standard for PV installers is the same
reaction. Wrenches, we need to get behind this effort the most of
anyone.
     If you look at the prerequisites, the last one is set up to allow
those of us who are wrenches to essentially be grandfathered in, based
on evidence of systems installed. This provision is proposed to be
sunsetted after two years, so it clearly is a legitimate option for we
wrenches to get on the bus if we so choose. Note also that the whole
program is a voluntary national certification. The contrarians and
iconoclasts and curmudgeons who don't want to participate don't have to.
Yes, eventually some states may adopt NABCEP standards as state
requirements. By that time anyone on this list today will easily meet
the requirements, and may well be grandfathered in anyway.
[Rant: Off]

    The certification requirements have been posted to this list. If
anyone would like to read my comments as a wrench and IPP member, please
e-mail me off-list and I will send them to you. Meanwhile, if you
haven't done so, please read what Bob-O and Eric Smiley have posted.
IMHO their words are pretty right on.

Allan at Positive Energy
to e-mail me off-list:
Allan at positiveenergysolar.com

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