[RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas
North Texas Renewable Energy Inc
ntrei at earthlink.net
Wed Oct 29 16:25:05 PDT 2008
Jeff,
I understand your states reluctance to step up to the unions and demand a
fair deal for the installer community. I see a parallel here in Texas.
While I am proud of all the months and years of work that TREIA and the
solar PV sub-committee have done working toward a PV license, I am seeing
the same reluctance to press for equal status for the PV community here in
Texas. It is stifled by fear, to be blunt.I know I have not "walked a mile"
in the shoes of the TREIA committee but I have been installing PV for five
years in North Texas and have listened as the battles in Ca. and other
states play out. The fact that the installer business community is pretty
much left on it's own to fight has come up many times on this list.
I join TREIA at the state capitol to push for legislation along with
numerous others in the PV community. I rarely see anyone there from the
PV/inverter industry. (Maybe they support TREIA financially but a quick look
at the membership roster shows pretty limited visible membership support)
My contact at the local Fort Worth newspaper told me, post 2007-2008 Tx.
Leg. session, that TXU Energy had 120 lobbysts registered at the state
capitol during that session. The lack of legislative support from PV and
inverter manufacturers really is a black eye for our industry. When your
opposition is a billion dollar competitor the deck is already stacked
against us.
Jim Duncan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Blick" <jeff.blick at sunlightsolar.com>
To: <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:50 PM
Subject: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas
> Hi guys,
> Oregon has some of the most stringent laws in the country. In order to
> become an installer you must first complete a 4000 hour apprenticeship.
> This must be done under a currently licensed solar installer, or under a
> journeyman or higher electrical license. Currently the state is only
> accepting about 2-3 people a year into this apprenticeship, so it is
> really
> difficult to break into installing here.
>
> Believe it or not, for a while I was not even allowed to install rails and
> Lfeet on a roof because it was part of an electrical installation. This
> one still blows my mind.
>
> As far as commercial goes there is a 25kW limit to the scope of the Solar
> license. That means anything above 25kW requires a journey or higher
> level
> license from the state. We are trying hard to get these rules changed,
> but
> the IBEW is fighting too.
>
> My mantra here is this: We are the ones who have been working hard to
> learn
> how to design and install these systems so that they are compliant with
> NEC,
> local UBC, and will operate to our predicted standards. The Electricians
> have put little to no time into learning this technology, and as a result
> I
> end up training electricians all the time. So why is that state allowing
> people who could have cared less about solar a few years ago to suddenly
> be
> at the forefront of the big money jobs?? It is baffling to me.
>
> I am currently working to change this in Oregon. If any of you are
> willing,
> would you please contact me off-list and let me know what the licensing
> requirements are in your state? This would help me show the state of
> Oregon
> that they are taking work away from the most qualified people to install
> and
> design it. If anyone else has any points or arguments to be made against
> the way the state of OR currently runs things please help me by contacting
> me. THANKS!!!
>
>
>
> Jeff Blick
> PV installer
> Sunlight Solar Inc.
> 4 NW Franklin
> Bend, OR 97701
> direct: 541-306-4196
> fax: 541-322-1911
> jeff.blick at sunlightsolar.com
> www.sunlightsolar.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
> [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of
> re-wrenches-request at lists.re-wrenches.org
> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 3:06 PM
> To: re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
> Subject: RE-wrenches Digest, Vol 1, Issue 244
>
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. State licensing for PV installers in Texas
> (North Texas Renewable Energy Inc)
> 2. Re: State licensing for PV installers in Texas (Bob Maynard)
> 3. Re: State licensing for PV installers in Texas
> (North Texas Renewable Energy Inc)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:44:37 -0500
> From: "North Texas Renewable Energy Inc" <ntrei at earthlink.net>
> Subject: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas
> To: "RE Wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> Message-ID: <091b01c93a0f$8ad40140$0202a8c0 at NTREI>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Wrenches
> the Texas Dept of Licensing and Regulation has (finally) proposed a
> Limited
> Solar Electric License for installers in Texas. There is currently no
> "solar
> license" in Texas.
> Among other fairly arbitrary and borderline ridiculous potential
> requirements (IMHO) is a 50 kWDC cap on the size of systems allowed, based
> on inverter rated output. Also the license holder may not work on
> commercial
> installations.
> Are these typical of the license restrictions in other states?
> thanks
> Jim Duncan
> North Texas Renewable Energy Inc
> 817.917.0527
> ntrei at earthlink.net
> www.ntrei.com
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:50:52 -0500
> From: "Bob Maynard" <bob.maynard at grosolar.com>
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas
> To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> Message-ID:
>
> <43AA04E99F22C24EA51DE62C3B940E38226C1C at 34093-C5-EVS1.exchange.rackspace.com
>>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Jim,
>
>
>
> In Oregon we have a Limited Renewable Energy Technician license. We are
> capped at 25kw and can do residential and commercial. The LRT license
> does not allow us to make final AC connections on any system and
> requires a site visit from an electrician.
>
>
>
> Regards,
> Bob Maynard
>
> VP NW Distribution Sales
>
> groSolar What the World Needs. NOW
>
> 535 NE Westbrook Way
>
> Grants Pass, OR 97526
> Direct: 541.291.4044
>
> TollFree: 800.467.6527 x4044
> Fax: 541.476.7480
> Mobile: 541.761.1636
>
> groSolar.com <http://www.grosolar.com/>
>
> http://blog.groSolar.com <http://blog.grosolar.com/>
>
> North America's Premier Installer, Distributor and Integrator of Solar
> Energy Solutions
>
>
>
> Distributor for Evergreen Solar, Suntech Power, SMA, Fronius, PV
> Powered, Outback Power, GridPoint, UniRac, Heliodyne SHW and other
> premier renewable energy products
>
>
>
>
>
> From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
> [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of North
> Texas Renewable Energy Inc
> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 2:45 PM
> To: RE Wrenches
> Subject: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas
>
>
>
> Wrenches
>
> the Texas Dept of Licensing and Regulation has (finally) proposed a
> Limited Solar Electric License for installers in Texas. There is
> currently no "solar license" in Texas.
>
> Among other fairly arbitrary and borderline ridiculous potential
> requirements (IMHO) is a 50 kWDC cap on the size of systems allowed,
> based on inverter rated output. Also the license holder may not work on
> commercial installations.
>
> Are these typical of the license restrictions in other states?
>
> thanks
>
> Jim Duncan
> North Texas Renewable Energy Inc
> 817.917.0527
> ntrei at earthlink.net
> www.ntrei.com
>
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:05:31 -0500
> From: "North Texas Renewable Energy Inc" <ntrei at earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas
> To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> Message-ID: <094d01c93a12$75deae40$0202a8c0 at NTREI>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Also to elaborate, The Texas license will restrict any work "on the AC
> side
> of the inverter" by anyone but a State licensed Electrical Contractor. I
> am
> stating, in a reply (to the group working on the language) "since the
> inverter AC output is current-limited by design, from a safety perspective
> the DC side could be considered as or more dangerous than the AC side."
> Is this statement a valid one?
> Jim
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Bob Maynard
> To: RE-wrenches
> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 4:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas
>
>
> Jim,
>
>
>
> In Oregon we have a Limited Renewable Energy Technician license. We are
> capped at 25kw and can do residential and commercial. The LRT license
> does
> not allow us to make final AC connections on any system and requires a
> site
> visit from an electrician.
>
>
>
> Regards,
> Bob Maynard
>
> VP NW Distribution Sales
>
> groSolar What the World Needs. NOW
>
> 535 NE Westbrook Way
>
> Grants Pass, OR 97526
> Direct: 541.291.4044
>
> TollFree: 800.467.6527 x4044
> Fax: 541.476.7480
> Mobile: 541.761.1636
>
> groSolar.com
>
> http://blog.groSolar.com
>
> North America's Premier Installer, Distributor and Integrator of Solar
> Energy Solutions
>
>
>
> Distributor for Evergreen Solar, Suntech Power, SMA, Fronius, PV Powered,
> Outback Power, GridPoint, UniRac, Heliodyne SHW and other premier
> renewable
> energy products
>
>
>
>
>
> From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
> [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of North
> Texas
> Renewable Energy Inc
> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 2:45 PM
> To: RE Wrenches
> Subject: [RE-wrenches] State licensing for PV installers in Texas
>
>
>
> Wrenches
>
> the Texas Dept of Licensing and Regulation has (finally) proposed a
> Limited Solar Electric License for installers in Texas. There is currently
> no "solar license" in Texas.
>
> Among other fairly arbitrary and borderline ridiculous potential
> requirements (IMHO) is a 50 kWDC cap on the size of systems allowed, based
> on inverter rated output. Also the license holder may not work on
> commercial
> installations.
>
> Are these typical of the license restrictions in other states?
>
> thanks
>
> Jim Duncan
> North Texas Renewable Energy Inc
> 817.917.0527
> ntrei at earthlink.net
> www.ntrei.com
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
>
>
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