NABCEC [RE-wrenches]

Wed Dec 18 19:52:04 PST 2002

Dang... all of this NABCEP stuff is really making my head hurt.  I've just
got to say say a few things.  Mostly well thought out criticisms and a
little ranting so here goes....

I'm all for qualified people doing the things that they are licensed to do. 
But do any other of the installing/construction/service trades (not
"certified energy planners, auditors", etc) have National Certification
Programs? (no they don't)  I'm already licensed, insured and bonded.  Am I
not smart enough to educate myself on how to properly install equipment? 
Are my potential customers so naive that they are afraid to ask hard
questions?  How long have you been in business?  Can I see proof of
insurance?  What about your references?

And why should I, in a region where most renewable energy installations are
undertaken by homeowners who buy the material from the cheapest solar.com of
the day and pay some uninsured, unlicensed hippie fed up with California (ya
dude, like I did solar in California) stranded in the Ozarks $12/hr to
install it, undertake the time and expense of becoming NABEC certified?   A
certification process that requires I travel to a facility a thousand miles
away to take the test at my expense.  It also requires that I maintain CEU's
and re-certify every three years?  Remember, no real construction trade has
a national certification program.  The additional costs of being NABEC
Certified means I have to charge more than I already do.  Some people who
call me think that anything over $20/hr is high.  Needless to say, I don't
work for them anyway but that's a different story.

I've said it again and again.  Customers who put blind faith in a
"certified" installers certification will get took to the cleaners every
time.  And dang it people wake up.... this NABEC thing stands for everything
most of us are in the business to avoid.  Quit hitting the snooze button. 
Can't you see it!  As much as I hate to admit it, the only way solar it
going to grow is through heavy local, state and federal subsidies (or
through RPS' etc).  If NABEC gets their way, the only was this money is
going to get dispersed is through "certified" installations which is going
to leave most of the little guys out, which appears to be the very idea of
NABEC to me.

Let's consider this scenario.  We'll use my state, Missouri, for example. 
To my knowledge there might be two installers in the state who could even
begin to come close to meeting the requirements for NABEC certification. 
Suddenly, one of our utility companies receives a major fine for some
business or environmental no-no.  They cough up 2 billion dollars to be
dispersed for various public benefit projects and 50 million goes for PV
installations.  (Forget the fact the SDHW would do a lot more good)  Or we
get a RPS, or a state funded buy down program.  It doesn't really matter
what the source of the money is, it's just there all at once. 

 In sweeps NABEC to help my state officials make sure that the installations
are "done right" and to make sure that only definition of "done right" is
the NABEC definition.  Here is where the "voluntary" certification lie falls
apart.  If you want to do any install work with this money you'll HAVE to be
NABEC certified. That's a sure thing.  How voluntary is that?  But who can
afford to send folks away for training and certification testing?  The same
folks who will make sure that there are "field experience waivers" available
to those who are in a apprenticeship programs.  Don't make me spell it out
for you, brother(hood).   That means that no small time, one person solar
shops grow because all they've done are off grid installations which don't
go towards NABEC experience requirements. (Correct me if I'm wrong)  The
same shops that have scraped out a meager living driving 3 hrs one way doing
installations waiting for solar to take off.  Attended numerous County
Fairs, never selling a darn thing... Patiently explained to thousands of
people that conservation comes first and the cost effective applications of
solar are knowing that it was always going to end with the same statement
"solar is just too expensive".  The same shops who will be left after the
money dries up to get calls from really angry folks with dead systems
installed by big shops who no longer work on solar.   Not to mention there
will be some real messes to clean up made by folks who were certified.  This
would describe a lot states, not just my state.

Even if the little shop can afford the time and hassle of the certification
the process, it will take 6 months and probably a year to get certified.  
By then, all of the big shops from CA will have set up temporary offices in
the state gobbling up the money as fast as they can (ya dude).

NABEC Certification is just plain bad business for most installers and if I
wasn't so dang busy making real money on the other parts of my business
(saving loads of kWh's) I might just do something about it.  Why should
Re-Wrenches undertake something that we don't need, take a test made by
people who know less about solar than most of us, increase our hourly rates
to make up for the lost time in training and added additional costs, and the
list goes on and on.

Whew,  I feel better now.

Asbestos impregnated flame shields up.

Travis Creswell
Ozark Energy Services

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