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Bill,<br>
I'm not your "UL guy", and I haven't taken any UL trainings or
exams. But when I review the UL web page about this subject
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lms.ulknowledgeservices.com/catalog/display.resource.aspx?resourceid=285443">http://lms.ulknowledgeservices.com/catalog/display.resource.aspx?resourceid=285443</a>),
the requirement is for a "qualified electrician", not a licensed
electrician. This wording on UL's part is likely for the same reason
that NABCEP doesn't require a license. The main reason is that
NABCEP is a national certification, while licensure requirements are
at most state-specific and often differ by county or municipality,
and the requirements have to be written to work in any jurisdiction.
Some states simply don't require licensure, so if either NABCEP or
UL required it, some qualified electricians would be prevented from
applying. <br>
<br>
To me, a valid second reason is that NABCEP (and probably UL as
well) have never been intended to compete with or have any formal
relationship to licensure, and so there shouldn't be any
cross-requirements. IMHO that is as it should be. The same holds
true for NABCEP having no official support for certification being
required by any jurisdiction, although a number of states tie
certification to some of their own standards by their own
initiative.<br>
<br>
The UL certification appears to be considerably less rigorous that
the NABCEP PV Installer certification. NABCEP requires formal
training and evidence of having led a specific number of jobs in
order to qualify to sit for the exam; UL requires neither. Both
require the same continuing education and recertification every
three years, but NABCEP also requires evidence of completed
installations, with customer contact information for verification.
It appears that the only standard that is higher for the UL
certification is OSHA-30, while NABCEP only requires OSHA-10.<br>
<br>
The only person who would "officially" respond to Wrenches posts
about NABCEP would be Ezra Auerbach, the Executive Director. That's
part of his job, to be the public face for the organization. I have
forwarded a few of these posts to him, and have gotten back a
robo-response that he and his wife are away on vacation and will
respond to emails upon return, I think around the end of June.
That's most likely why you haven't seen any "official" NABCEP
commentary on the subject.The rest of the people who might respond
are volunteers, not staff. You got a thoughtful post yesterday from
Andrew Truitt, who is on the Board of Directors as a volunteer, and
I respond as time allows (I'm a volunteer on the PV technical
committee, and I volunteered to help create the Company
Accreditation program). I would hope that Bob-O would respond on
NABCEP issues, as he too is on the BoD and his posts can be quite
entertaining, but I haven't seen a post from him on anything here
for many months, so I suspect he's either not monitoring the
Wrenches list or has retired...<br>
<br>
I would not call NABCEP a "vendor", Bill, as that suggests a
for-profit business that must be held to strict tech-only standards
to respond on this list. NABCEP is a small nonprofit organization
set up by volunteers for the benefit of our industry.<br>
<br>
Allan<br>
<br>
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<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><b>Allan Sindelar</b></font><br>
<small><a href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com"><font
color="#000099" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><u>Allan@positiveenergysolar.com</u></font></a></small><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic
Installer<br>
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional<br>
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br>
Founder and Chief Technology Officer<br>
<b>Positive Energy, Inc.</b><br>
3209 Richards Lane (note new address)<br>
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507<br>
<b>505 424-1112</b><br>
<a href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/" target="_blank"><u>www.positiveenergysolar.com</u></a><o:p></o:p></span></font>
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<br>
On 6/2/2012 6:39 AM, Bill Loesch wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:4FCA096A.8040400@charter.net" type="cite">
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<br>
Hi Chris, et al,<br>
<br>
As I remember, at least one of our colleagues on this list signs
his email with the UL solar certification. I hope I don't put him
on the spot, but I would be interested in his comments on the
subject. As I remember, the UL blessing requires an electrician
license, (as I remember, that "detail" is absent from the NABCEP
blessing) wouldn't that also lend just a bit of competency to the
conversation, too.<br>
<br>
I note (again) the absence of any "official" NABCEP commentary on
the subject. I thought having vendors on the list for prompt
response was the major reason for their inclusion.<br>
<br>
Respectfully,<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Bill Loesch
Solar 1 - Saint Louis Solar
314 631 1094</pre>
<br>
On 01-Jun-12 7:14 AM, Chris Mason wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAG6C1qmw0D45+sgJU=XehiVJNbEF9ymL5sLFafnYpCL1tfGb1w@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div>I really appreciate the effort that NABCEP takes to
ensure the certification has value. Being in the Caribbean,
I find that having a NABCEP PV certification ends the
conversation on competency before it begins, as no
international company expects to find capable people here.
Being NABCEP certified makes a hugh impression on investors
and clients</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
-- <br>
Chris Mason
<div>President, Comet Systems Ltd</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.cometenergysystems.com" target="_blank">www.cometenergysystems.com</a></div>
<div>Cell: 264.235.5670</div>
<div>Skype: netconcepts</div>
<br>
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