NABCEP exam [RE-wrenches]

[Jerry Caldwell]

We had 17 or 18 in Sacramento which covered northern
California.

I suspect that any newcomers that are primarily
familiar with straight grid systems and SunnyBoys
would have had a tougher time with the exam.  There
were a good number of questions on example systems
that were based on old Omnion inverters, water pumping
systems, and generator-pv stand alones.

It was definately not easy.  In fact, it seemed to be 
more designer oriented than installer oriented.  My
complaint would be that some of the answer choices
were a bit misleading, and not just testing us on the
subject matter.  The exam could use some improvement,
but anyone who passed deserved it in my opinion.

Jerry Caldwell
Light Energy Systems


--- "Dan Whigham, SC Solar" <DWhigham at scsolar.com>
wrote:
> We had 3 in Knoxville TN, which basically covered
> the South East US. 
> 
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Dan Whigham
> SC Solar
> www.scsolar.com
> 803-802-5522
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jeff Yago" <jryago at wwjv.net>
> To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2003 9:10 PM
> Subject: RE: NABCEP exam [RE-wrenches]
> 
> 
> > 
> > 
> > I assume those of you in the "solar" states had a
> better showing, but
> > the Maryland test site had a total of 6, and that
> is for Maryland,
> > Virginia, and the D.C. area.
> > 
> > As for the test, it is clear that a major amount
> of work and
> > preparation went into this test program and
> getting this off the
> > ground.  I was really surprised that the material
> covered was actually
> > about the areas you need to know to install many
> different systems,
> > and the people who made up this material clearly
> knew what they were
> > writing about.  That's really refreshing!
> > 
> > I was expecting only NEC questions (and believe me
> there were
> > plenty!), but there were also many questions and
> calculations required
> > concerning array mounting, structural issues,
> system commissioning,
> > worker safety, grid tied, off grid, generator
> based, DC only, water
> > pumping, site analysis, shading issues, battery
> issues, ground mount,
> > pole mount, roof mount, ground fault issues,
> grounding issues, and you
> > better know how these systems are different and
> why.  The practice
> > test provided with the preparation materials made
> it very clear up
> > front that this was not going to be easy.
> > 
> > 
> > My only concern is that to pass it you need
> serious training in many
> > areas not related to the NEC, yet, I think most
> "average" electricians
> > who know the NEC by heart and should learn the
> material will not feel
> > they need to obtain a certification they think is
> not needed.
> > 
> > Most that I talked too feel the liability issues,
> insurance companies,
> > and banks making home loans are already "on their
> side", since they
> > all want a "licensed" electrician doing any wiring
> work.   After all,
> > its just running wire and conduit isn't it?
> > 
> > If the attendance we had is any indication, we may
> all need to work
> > harder in promoting this certification program and
> the reasons it is
> > needed out there.
> > 
> > Just my 2 cents,
> > 
> > Jeff Yago
> > 
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