NABCEP [RE-wrenches]

[Graham Owen]

Bill , Joel and All,

I believe the CAL SEIA position is well thought out and appropriate, 
especially considering there are no NABCEP certified installers, yet.  
The last thing we need at this time is for our industry to have another 
sudden stoppage, for any reason.  It is obvious the certification 
requirement is gaining momentum and will inevitably play a significant 
and hopefully “voluntary” role in the future of our industry.  I don’t 
have a crystal ball that displays how this will all pan out, but I do 
know that NABCEP has at the very least caused division amongst 
stakeholders. Almost all of the CAL SEIA members I have spoken to are 
for various reasons opposed to this  “mandatory-voluntary” 
certification.  It’s all very confusing for me to completely understand 
but I have been charged with representing the “Small Contractor” on the 
new CAL SEIA Policy Board.  So I have to represent certain issues with 
what I believe to be a consensus from the contractor members of CALSEIA.

I spent two days last week in Sacramento (on my dime) and met with CEC 
Chairman Keese, three of the commissioners individually, Chairman of the 
California Power Authority David Freeman, Senior Policy Advisors to 
Governor Davis and State CEO Laura Doll at the Capitol Building and 
ended up the day meeting with three CEC commissioners as a group.  They 
asked me to stay and testify on the public record the following day, 
which I did.  NABCEP was not the focus of these meetings since it seemed 
somewhat irrelevant considering there are no certified installers.  
There were other issues of a more pressing nature that required 
immediate attention and focus.

CAL SEIA submitted the following language to the CEC with respect to 
NABCEP.

“The Commission should not mandate certification by the North American 
Board of Certified Energy Practitioners or any other certification body 
except the California Contractors State License Board.

CAL SEIA is on record with the North American Board of Certified Energy 
Practitioners as being opposed to mandatory certification of PV 
practitioners (see attached letter).  While the goal of establishing a 
benchmark of proficiency for PV practitioners is laudable, California 
State Law requires that contractors be properly licensed in order to 
sell and install solar systems in the state.  Adding another layer of 
mandatory requirements onto those with which contractors must comply is 
viewed by a majority of CAL SEIA membership as burdensome and 
unnecessary.  Many contractors may well want to become certified when 
certification becomes available sometime in 2004, if all goes according 
to NABCEP’s plan, however mandating certification as a condition of 
program participation is not the best approach in CAL SEIA’s view.  An 
alternative approach may be to develop, in the context of the Working 
Group, an incentive mechanism linked to the Buydown Program which will 
lead contractors to voluntarily seek certification.”


If you belong to CAL SEIA please feel free to contact me off list with 
comments.  I believe the majority opinion should prevail, whichever way 
it goes.




Graham F. Owen
GO Solar Company
12439 Magnolia Blvd. #132
North Hollywood,  CA  91607
cell 818.398.6409
phone 818.566.6870
fax 818.566.6879
email graham at solarexpert.com
 
By the way I just purchased the web site names www.certifiedsolar.com 
and www.certified-solar.com.

- - - -
To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com

Archive of previous messages: http://www.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/

List rules & etiquette: http://www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquete.htm

Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/index.html

Hosted by Home Power magazine

Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com

==^================================================================
This email was sent to: michael.welch at homepower.com

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9.bWljaGFl
Or send an email to: RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com

T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================