Welcome NABCEP members [RE-wrenches]

[Bob-O Schultze, Electron Connection]

<x-flowed>

Hello Joel,
 From the start and continuing to this day, it is the NABCEP Board's  
desire for the certification to be totally voluntary. Whenever a less- 
than-voluntary program is proposed by some agency or another, we  
generally will write a letter to that agency reinforcing that desire.  
Unfortunately, as you point out, what any given state or local  
government does or doesn't do is totally out of NABCEP's control.
This is unfortunate but understandable. Agencies want the best bang  
for their buck. One of the best ways to get that is by having systems  
installed by proven competent installers. Rather than reinvent an  
expensive testing program (like that's gonna happen in these days of  
tight government budgets) they adopt ours and call it good- or at  
least better. While it may not seem to be the best approach in CA  
where you play, having a NABCEP cert has actually opened up some  
other states' PV programs to non-union and other than traditional  
licensing of PV installers.
Because I sit on NABCEP's Board and because I was very involved in  
the adoption of OR's Renewable Energy Technician license, I know far  
more about many states licensing requirements than I ever wanted to  
know. Believe me when I tell you that a CA solar license is FAR  
easier to get than in most states. In that regard, if a more  
restrictive licensing state wants to accept NABCEP certification as a  
path into their PV program, they are opening their state up to  
competent installers far sooner than waiting for the IBEW or  
traditional non-union electrical tradesmen to come up to speed.
That, my friend, is a good thing.
Best, Bob-O

On Aug 26, 2006, at 10:05 AM, Joel Davidson wrote:

>
> Welcome NABCEP members. I invite you to search NABCEP in the RE- 
> wrenches archive: http://lists.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/read
>
> Around Christmas 2002, NABCEP said it was going to be strictly  
> voluntary and Matt wrote that the certification juggernaut will be  
> impossible to stop (below). Almost 4 years later, the PV world has  
> changed dramatically. Over 2 MW of PV are installed daily, IBEW's  
> 750,000 members have staked their claim for PV work and tens of  
> thousands of trained European and Japanese PV professionals are  
> power blocs that command politicians' attention. Even all-powerful  
> UL is being forced to recognize the global influence of the  
> International Electrotechnical Commission's (IEC) on PV. NABCEP PV  
> professionals deserve recognition for their knowledge and  
> experience, but overwhelming market forces are bringing PV into the  
> mainstream worldwide faster than this small, dedicated organization  
> can or should attempt to control. I think it would serve the public  
> and industry better if NABCEP offered its voluntary national  
> certification program to a wider audience instead of allowing  
> itself to be written into PV incentive program requirements.
>
> Joel Davidson


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

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

List rules & how to change your email address: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquette.php

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

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

For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit:
http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER
--^----------------------------------------------------------------


</x-flowed>