[RE-wrenches] NABCEP

Thu May 31 15:15:40 PDT 2012

Wrenches - I'd like to address some of the aforementioned concerns about
NABCEP.  I do not claim to present the official NABCEP "company line", but
I have been a certificant since 2007, have been involved with a
few programmatic committees, and currently sit on the board of directors.

   - I certainly sympathize with Dana's frustration with having to drive a
   full day to get to a testing center.  There are many others in a similar
   situation and it is one of the complaints about NABCEP that I hear most
   often (along with exam frequency).  Unfortunately NABCEP is still a very
   small certification body relative to trade licensing and, as a voluntary
   certification, we just don't have the resources that states do.
   - Allan is correct about the processes the Exam Committees have to
   undergo in order to follow defensible psychometric principles and maintain
   NABCEP's ANSI accreditation.
   - What additional resources would people like to use at the exam?  I
   would be happy to take suggestions to the Board.
   - I think most certificants would agree that there would be a value in
   multiple, specialized NABCEP PV certifications.  If fact there has been
   numerous internal discussions about exactly that and I think the next
   certification that NABCEP develops will fall into this category.  However,
   certification development takes time and money, and some of the programs
   that NABCEP has developed have not received the interest that was
   anticipated, so we need to perform our due diligence before committing the
   sizable resources that it takes to create a new certification.  As the PV
   Installer certification stands now, it is intended to test a broad variety
   of knowledge, largely because historically companies were smaller and
   employees were more likely to be generalists.  The industry has obviously
   grown very rapidly with one result being increased specialization and
   NABCEP does intend to keep up with this trend.  With all that in mind
   NABCEP welcomes targeted donations for developing new credentials.
   - Certification certainly is a business, though I think that its worth
   noting that NABCEP was created by installers who were concerned with the
   workmanship of RE system installations and didn't want to see a repeat of
   what happened to the solar water heating industry in the '70s.  Since its
   inception NABCEP has been a volunteer-driven non-profit entity, guided by
   some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated people in the industry (many
   of whom are on this list-serve).
   - We are well aware of the fact that NABCEP certs often get "promoted
   off the roof" and find themselves in design, sales or managerial rolls.
    Obviously this reflects well on NABCEP certificants, but it is a problem
   for a program that requires ongoing field work for re-certification.  This
   is yet another challenge that we hope to address with future, more
   specialized certifications.  Note that it takes somewhere between 12 and 18
   months to properly develop a credentialing program, and NABCEP has been
   quite busy over the years responding to market demands for Entry Level,
   Technical Sales, Small Wind, and now Company Accreditation.  We know that
   the industry is changing and we need to change with it, so keep the
   suggestions coming!

I think everyone I've ever met has had some idea about how NABCEP could be
better, and often times they are right.  Unfortunately NABCEP operates
under the real-world constraints of budgets, fund raising, volunteer
availability, consensus building, accreditation requirements, etc...   In
the end I think it is hard to argue that NABCEP has not benefited our
industry.  NYSERDA did a study and found that systems that were installed
by NABCEP Certified PV Installers had less issues at inspection than those
built by non-NABCEP installers.  As someone who cares deeply about
installation quality and safety, this tells me that NABCEP does provide
value and fills a needed roll in our industry.

For a brighter energy future,

Andrew Truitt
NABCEP Certified PV Installer™ (ID# 032407-66)****

Principal
Truitt Renewable Energy Consulting****

(202) 486-7507****

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-truitt/8/622/713

"Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion
to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor
safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could
ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"

~William McDonough

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 5:56 PM, Chris Mason
<cometenergysystems at gmail.com>wrote:

> One of the issues I have with the NABCEP certification is the title. When
> I look at the subject matter, comparing the scope to other similar
> certifications, I feel "installer" is not really accurate. I have a couple
> of workers that install PV systems with me, and they are able to get the
> job done. They are what I would call installers. They don't work with the
> customer to design the right solution and solve problems, lay out the best
> approach and develop the right bill of materials.
>
> The skills that the NABCEP  PV certification Job Task Analysis requires is
> more of a systems designer. An installer does not need trigonometry,
> electrical theory and mechanical design to that extent.
>
> In other disciplines, anyone with the depth of knowledge the NACBEP
> requires would be a systems designer and project manager. The title
> "Installer" does not properly convey this knowledge and skill set, and does
> not give the customer an accurate representation of the role of the
> professional.
>
>
> --
> Chris Mason
> President, Comet Systems Ltd
> NABCEP Certified PV installer 092411-103
>
>
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