[RE-wrenches] Solar Installers Association

[Dana]

Here, Here! Spot on Jeff, possibly other options we could look at; 

* Visa/MC  - Credit card as a group with a negotiated lower rates. Esp. with
the potential larger sale typical of and installation. This is not a cup of
coffee and a sweet roll sale.
* Umbrella type insurance - Health, liability, Performance Bond [for
contractor licensed states], shop, uninstalled equipment, vehicle, tools
insurance as a group. I know once I got this bundled [2 bundles but bundled]
it saved a big chunk, and as a national group I would imagine it could drive
it lower. I have suggested this to COSEIA in the past and gotten
disinterested responses.

Getting us in the driver's seat instead to the back seat is a much more
positive way to approach the future of our industry.

Count me in.

Thanks -

Dana Orzel

Great Solar Works, Inc
www.solarwork.com
E - dana at solarwork.com
V - 970.626.5253
F - 970.626.4140
C - 970.209.4076
"I'd put my money on solar energy. I hope we don't have to wait 'til oil and
coal run out before we tackle that."
-Thomas Edison, in conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, March
1931

-----Original Message-----
From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Yago
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 11:42 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Solar Installers Association

Hi gang!

When this thread first started back in January 2008, the same comments were
made. - Why not an offshoot of NABCEP? Why not be taken in under a larger
established group like SEIA? The answers we got back was - no thanks. I wish
an established organization would take us in, but not just to join their
existing program with their already set format. We have 3 choices here:

* Do nothing, and continue to battle the same dragons but separately. 

* Form a totally new association.

* Find an established association in the general area of interest that is
willing to create a new "branch" or "division" that has an equal seat at the
table. So far, no other group wants to do this.

I would like to again list some of the issues that I do not see any other
solar association helping us with:

1. Monthly newsletter that could include install tips, discuss recent code
issues, highlight a project, sources for hard-to-find parts, state updates,
ect. 
Note - The recent upstart SolarPro Magazine is very close to filling this
need with a few minor additions.

2. Guidelines for standardized documents and contracts (Note - I am doing
this now thanks to your many contributions of home grown contracts).

3. Annual conference with installer classes. The last few "training classes"
I paid for at the most recent few SEIA annual conventions were nothing more
than glorified 4 hour ads for a manufacturer's new product line! However,
real installer training classes could be piggy-backed with the SEIA annual
convention and offer credits to keep NABCEP certifications alive.

4. Arrange for group liability insurance and other group discounts for
installer tools, training materials, ect.

5. The power of a group behind you when you have a "problem" with an
inspector or state agency that will not listen to an individual.

Remember, our needs for an association is almost a mirror image of this
Wrenches List. For example, on this list we bitch about a specific inverter
model or solar module when we run into problems with a manufacturer's
product. Would this be allowed if we were part of an existing association
made of mostly solar manufacturers? Yes, we are in the same line of work,
but their day to day concerns are lobbying congress, import restrictions in
other countries, and these activities may be needed, but this still does not
address our day to day needs.

Perhaps we still do not have a critical mass to get a totally separate new
association going at this time, or perhaps some existing solar group will
see the advantages of taking us in as a group and would agree to addressing
our needs also. Perhaps we continue to make this list our forum and do
nothing else for now. Perhaps we will be left in the dust and one of the
trade unions will fill this need which could attract new members. 

I think there will be a national association of solar installers, and I
think it will happen sooner that later because there is a very real need in
our industry, and no other established group appears willing to fill that
need. Ask yourself this, if there already was a solar installer association
that provided all of the benefits I listed above, wouldn't you jump at the
chance to join?

Jeff Yago



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