SolarPanelTalk.com: NABCEP Russ
http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showthread.php?3289-Hellofantastic moderator, and it won’t take long to see why 🙂Hello#1 02-03-2011 09:18 PM NABCEP Russ
The NABCEP part – is that sales certification? Installer certification? The solar engineer part – what discipline is that a branch of? Electrical or electronics engineer specializing in solar possibly? What does the NABCEP certification specifically qualify you to do? Solar Integrator? Does that mean middle man? Or is some beneficial service provided? Russ #3 02-04-2011 04:04 AM NABCEP Russ
I hold NABCEP PV installer certification. When I said solar engineer I was referring to the electrical engineering of turnkey solar systems. I design systems not components. NABCEP doesn’t give any specific qualifications. It’s the most widely recognized solar certification in the US and is used by many state incentive programs to qualify installers. In order to get the certification you have to prove a certain level of experience in the field as well as pass a rigorous exam covering design, installation, and safety procedures. I guess they don’t use the term in Turkey, but in the US, the term integrator is thrown around similarly to installer. It essentially differentiates you from a company that just installs solar. We provide turnkey services including design, rebate assistance, maintenance, monitoring, consulting, etc. There are companies that do only installation that are often hired as subcontractors by a company like us. We however for the most part do our own in house installations. Thank you for the warm welcome to the site. I have been oh so encouraged to contribute to your site. #4 02-04-2011 04:14 AM russ So you are an electrical engineer? Flashing a designator like NABCEP in front of your name is a turn off to me. It is a certificate that has nothing to do with anything – other than that you have taken time to pass an exam – Many have the certification and you never hear of it. Most people have very little idea about the solar field and do not know what the various certifications and ‘green’ courses now being offered really stand for. They are easily led down various paths out of ignorance – unfortunately. Russ #5 02-04-2011 04:25 AM NABCEP Russ
Unfortunately in this field, there is no universal certification that shows you know anything about the field. Anyone can get a “solar certification” at a local community college in a day. Nabcep is trying to fill that void by offering a certification process that confirms experience in the field and is relatively difficult to attain. It is becoming more widely known and accepted in the US. You are correct that people can be easily led down a path of ignorance with random “certifications”. That is what nabcep is trying to eliminate by being difficult to obtain. The more widely accepted the better. Ive only flashed it in front of my name because you took my first choice and it was the first thing solar related I thought of. #6 02-04-2011 10:19 AM Jason Glad you found us and decided to sign up to contribute. It’s greatly appreciated! I look forward to reading your posts! :julie: *also please keep in mind there are some occasional folk that join, talk up their “experience”, and have an alternative motive. this is a hyped up market, so seeing fakes is a common occurrence. thats what keeps this board full of high quality content. Our Russ is a fantastic moderator, and it won’t take long to see why 🙂 thanks again. #7 02-05-2011 06:30 AM jimmychacha #8 02-05-2011 07:12 AM NABCEP Russ
Good luck! I was in your position before. It’s a tough road ahead. If you have questions or need advice feel free to PM me. #9 02-05-2011 07:16 AM Sunking
Oh I don’t know about that. Licensed PE or electrician carries a lot of weight and I would take a licensed Master Electrician over a NABCEP certification any day of the week. With a Master Electrician I know that person has at least 2 years formal education, 8 years continual education and at least 10 years experience. With NABCEP I can get some kid that dropped out of high school or a roofer who does not speak English :p. #10 02-05-2011 07:43 AM NABCEP Russ
Sure but 95% of master electricians and licensed PEs know nothing about solar. There’s more to it than just electrical work. An electrician could be clueless when it comes to the structural end of things. An ideal combination for certification would be a PE or master electrician with NABCEP in addition. And I wouldn’t be so quick to discount NABCEP. It has education and industry experience qualifications as well as continuing education requirements. The exam itself is also very in depth covering all aspects of solar, not only electrical, but structural design, safety, and best practices. I’d also think you’d be hard pressed to find a dropout or some dumb roofer who can pass the exam. #11 02-05-2011 10:17 AM Sunking With a NABCEP certification you cannot do the work or pull the permits without a licensed electrical contractor pulling the permits or do the work unless supervised directly by a licensed electrician. Effectively meaning you are an apprentice working to earn your license some day In other words it is not recognized by any authority having jurisdiction. A PE, Master, or Residential Electrician already has all the skills, education, license, and experience to do solar work. It takes about a day to learn from reading a book written by John and it is free. As for the structural, that takes a PE to sign off for, not a NABCEP certification. #12 02-05-2011 10:43 AM NABCEP Russ
I agree with you 100%. NABCEP on it’s own is pretty meaningless. It doesn’t give you any authority on it’s own. It’s clearly suited as a supplement to electrician or engineer. It is a worthy certification though because it confirms experience in solar. Like I said before you can have a PE or Electricians license and have no experience or knowledge in solar. They do have a certification geared towered sales, but that’s not what I hold. Also, NABCEP is recognized by certain state rebate programs and is a fast way to be approved to work with them. P.S. I assume you meant John Wiles. I think everyone knows who he is. Nice name drop though. #13 02-05-2011 11:59 AM Sunking
Yep a typo. Where I see the benfit of NABCEP is a residential or commercial electrician as it adds a nice entry to the Resume that might be useful to some electrical contracting company to hire him that does solar as part of their business model, or to a salesman who works for an electrical or roofing contractor to go out to the customers home, pitch the product, and gather the required information to give to the designer or engineer. I do mostly commercial solar for telephone and oil companies, no residential to speak of because there is no real money in it for my architectural design/build firm. Most of the work is off-grid battery for telemetry and cellular radio in remote areas. Have done some large scale grid tied for large business with Walmart 500 Kw being the largest single project. 90% of all the contractors i hire are commercial electrical contracting. When a roof is involved they sub contract out to a roofing contractor. A small percentage of solar contractors I have dealt with are roofing companies who sub contract the electrical out. Then the small stuff we do with solar is retainer contracts with roofing and electrical contractors who do cookie cutter installs where we pre-design all their systems, and when they make a sale gives us the details and modify for the project and Stamp It for permits and construction. But all in all solar only makes up about 5 to 10 % of all our business. If it were only green energy, I would have no business or employing people. The real money is in utility power generation, transmission, and industrial electrical. If the government would get out of the way I could employ a hundred or more people instead of just 9 or 10 which I might have to start laying them off. #14 02-05-2011 03:03 PM jimmychacha
Or, you might get a well-versed English speaking former Steelworker and CNC machinist, who lost his job after 15 years of service, then when back to school and earned an AAS in Electronics Engineering, a Certificate of Specialization in Sustainable Energy, the LEED Green Associate accredidation, as well as the NABCEP certification. No disrespect to journeymen or master electricians who put in their time, but there are those eager to learn the right way to do things. In addition, PA residents are only eligible for solar rebates if they use a contractor on a certain list managed by DEP. NABCEP certification is one path to get oneself on that list. #15 02-05-2011 03:20 PM Sunking I am not trying to discourage anyone from obtaining the certification, especially electrical contractors, but receiving the certification does not permit you to do any installation work. You would have to hire an electrical contractor to do it. Any electrical contractor needing a NABCEP certified member to qualify for state incentives is easy; Either send one of your electricians to take the test, or hire an electrician with the certification. #16 02-05-2011 09:12 PM russ Cute NABCEP Russ. Not much class and wrong but cute. Russ #17 02-06-2011 03:27 PM NABCEP Russ
Sorry just put off by all of the high and mighty know it all talk down to you attitudes from the people here. Don’t think I’m going to be wasting much more time on here… Too many solar panels to install. And btw, we’re not an electrical contractor and we pull our permits no problem. I do have an electrician do the required work but not the whole thing. Electricians aren’t necessarily qualified to mount the panels nor have the skills necessary to align the panels and make them look good. #18 02-06-2011 03:30 PM NABCEP Russ
Jimmy dont worry I’m with ya. I’m in the same boat. No aspiration to become an electrician or electrical contractor. You’ll have no problem doing jobs in PA. All you have to do is sub out the necessary electrical work. #19 02-06-2011 05:47 PM jimmychacha #20 02-06-2011 06:39 PM Sunking
OK then if not an electrical contractor, then what trade? Roofing, home improvement, mechanical, HVAC? In PA contractor license are issued on the county or city level, and all contractors are to be registered with the state to comply with Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (PA HICPA), Act 132 (Senate Bill 100 of 2007) for any contract work over $500. All states require contractors for hire to have license. This is to protect both the contractor and more importantly the consumer. One of the requirements for any contractor liscense is to be bonded and insured to protect the homeowner or business. That is not picking on anyone, that is just a fact of doing contract work #21 02-06-2011 06:55 PM NABCEP Russ
Were a home improvement contractor. We’re registered with the state. Fortunately since the state licensing program came into effect, we don’t have to get licenses in each city or county. The state license is pretty much accepted in lieu of local licenses. #22 02-06-2011 07:04 PM Sunking
That is my point, you have to be a licensed contractor of some kind to pull a permit. Then by your own admission you have to sub contract an electrical contractor to do the work. That is not picking on you. #23 02-06-2011 07:29 PM NABCEP Russ
Yeah i was just making the point that you don’t have to be particularly an electrical contractor. And also, I was never meaning to say you in particular were picking on me. You’ve been the most reasonable really. #24 02-07-2011 09:42 AM TNeron-Bancel There seems to be a confusion between the NABCEP Entry Level Exam and the NABCEP PV Installer Certification. The Entry Level Exam is not a certification. It is an exam administered by a network of registered providers that can offer it to students who complete their entry level solar PV course. Achieving this exam shows a basic understanding of the design and installation of solar PV systems and does not qualify anyone to install. In the past, this exam was called the Certificate of Knowledge which is why some people think that it is a certification. As you can see from my this thread, we’re still trying to make this distinction clear. The PV Installer certification is NABCEP’s flagship program and in order to sit for this exam, an applicant needs to show of combination of experience as the lead installer along with training or education. All NABCEP Certified Installers can be found listed on our website on our Installer Locator. I’d like to end with saying that we haven’t positioned our PV Installer certification to be a substitute for any electrical or solar installation license. Ultimately, it is up to the states to establish that. In regards to the usefulness or value of the NABCEP PV Installer certification, I’ll leave that up to your discussion but if you have any questions about our programs which include the new PV Techincal Sales certification, please feel free to contact us at (800) 654-0021 or info@nabcep.org. #25 02-07-2011 09:54 AM russ Thanks for your post and the clarifications. We appreciate you taking time to make the post. Russ |
05-14-2011 01:35 PM #130 mikegoldnj Junior Member Join Date May 2011 Location New Jersey Posts 7 |
How did you get to be a moderator here? You must really enjoy hearing yourself talk because, clearly, you have no capacity for hearing anyone else’s facts or opinions. |
YouTube.com
1 Jul 2011
http://www.eco-merica.com
Eco-merica explains how our solar systems work and how they are a great financial investment. For more information, check out our website at http://www.eco-merica.com
[…] Russ See also: *SolarPanelTalk.com: NABCEP Russ – Our Russ is a fantastic moderator […]
Solar Energy Forum | Solar Panel Questions | Solar Help Desk Statistics
Threads 3,318 Posts 24,252 Members 5,114
Please welcome our newest member, bristolsozo
[7:32 AM 7/5/2011]
[…] SolarPanelTalk.com: NABCEP Russ « TenagaSurya […]
Related Blogs
Related Blogs on Pennsalvania contravtors lisense
Construction Rules and Regulations Information : Computer Mouse
Pa Contractors License | Contractors in Phoenix | Find Contractors …
Hiring a Roofing Contractor For Roof Repairs — ganga-japan.com
Paying for Construction Information : Baby Friendly Vacation
SolarPanelTalk.com: NABCEP Russ « TenagaSurya
. This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
I think that is one of the such a lot important information for me. And i’m happy studying your article. But should commentary on some general issues, The site style is great, the articles is really excellent :D. Excellent task, cheers.
[IP: 64.120.116.170]
http://unidonthave717.com
http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/tags.php?tag=moderator
Today,Jul.20,2011 09:15 GMT -8. PM #8
russ
Moderator
Join Date
Jul 2009
Location
İzmir, Turkey
Posts
2,247
All I have to do is read the comments section after news stories to confirm my opinion of the average intelligence level.
1) If you think 95% of the homeowners are capable of understanding electrical code and doing wiring in a safe manner or
2) Capable of making openings in their roof, installing the support racks and sealing the openings or
3) Capable of getting permit documents through the appropriate offices without being ready to jump off the roof rather than install a solar system or
4) Capable of doing the lifting and assembly on the roof.
5) Many other things – –
That is one purpose of the NABCEP courses – to try to educate the people who want to work in the field where they have some small idea of what they are doing and saying.
Some people can do it with no problem – some can do it and struggle through – some will make a complete hash of it – most will end up spending more than the solar company wanted for the job.
http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showthread.php?4486-sytem-quote-advice-on-a-sytem-in-new-jersey&p=27584&viewfull=1#post27584
07-20-2011 12:20 PM #9
Solar-dude
Member
Join Date
Jul 2011
Posts
40
i’m an optimist
i’m an optimist. obviously people shoudl watch the videos themselves and see if they can do it, rather than read our debate of what % of people are competent to do it.
07-20-2011 12:31 PM #10
russ
Moderator
Join Date
Jul 2009
Location
İzmir, Turkey
Posts
2,261
More correctly you are an idiot – trying to get people into things by watching some stupid video – things too many will make a hash of.
You are not doing anyone a favor with your line of DIY – good for a few – yes bad overall – yes
I warned you in another thread – be helpful if you want
Arguing for the sake of arguing is useless
07-20-2011 08:16 PM = Yesterday, 07:16 PM #11
Solar-dude
Member
Join Date
Jul 2011
Posts
40
Obviously you never even watched the enphase wiring video. There is ONLY one way to plug in the connectors, it is physically IMPOSSIBEL to mess up the string wiring. That’s right it is IMPOSSIBLE TO MIS WIRE IT WHEN USING THEIR SYSTEM.
And as mentioined previously u could hire an electician to do the wiring from the strings to the home elec. panel.
Before you insult people, do your homework and stop assuming you knwo what others are capable.
http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showthread.php?4486-sytem-quote-advice-on-a-sytem-in-new-jersey&p=27606&viewfull=1#post27606
Hello there, simply turned into aware of your blog thru Google, and found that it is really informative. I?m gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. A lot of other folks will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
http://www.DIYSolarPanelTips.com
http://www.diysolarpaneltips.com/go/e4esolar
Great beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account aided me a applicable deal. I had been tiny bit familiar of this your broadcast offered bright clear concept
I have been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this site. Studying this info So i?m glad to show that I have a very just right uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I such a lot without a doubt will make sure to don?t overlook this website and provides it a glance regularly.
What i do not realize is actually how you are no longer really a lot more smartly-liked than you may be right now. You’re so intelligent. You recognize therefore significantly on the subject of this matter, produced me individually believe it from so many various angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be fascinated until it’s one thing to do with Woman gaga! Your individual stuffs great. Always take care of it up!
[Admin: Thanks]
I think that is among the most significant info for me. And i’m satisfied reading your article. But want to observation on some general things, The website taste is great, the articles is actually great : D. Excellent task, cheers
[Admin: Thanks]
Simply wish to say your article is as astounding. The clarity on your put up is simply cool and that i can think you are a professional in this subject. Well along with your permission allow me to clutch your feed to stay up to date with drawing close post. Thank you a million and please keep up the enjoyable work.
[Admin: Thanks]
You could certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The arena hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. All the time go after your heart.
You actually make it appear so easy together with your presentation however I to find this topic to be actually something that I think I’d never understand. It kind of feels too complicated and extremely extensive for me. I’m looking forward in your subsequent submit, I’ll attempt to get the grasp of it!
Great paintings! That is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared across the net. Disgrace on the search engines for not positioning this submit higher! Come on over and discuss with my website . Thank you =)
Hello, i feel that i noticed you visited my web site thus i came to ?return the desire?.I’m trying to in finding issues to enhance my site!I suppose its ok to make use of a few of your ideas!!
SolarAztec.com
Great beat ! I would like to apprentice at the same time as you amend your site, how can i subscribe for a blog website? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I have been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered shiny clear idea
Hello I am so excited I found your webpage, I really found you by accident, while I was looking on Digg for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to say thank you for a fantastic post and a all round exciting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don�t have time to read through it all at the minute but I have saved it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the excellent work.
Thank you for any other great post. The place else may anybody get that kind of information in such an ideal approach of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am on the search for such information.
Awesome issues here. I am very satisfied to look your article. Thank you a lot and I am looking forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a e-mail?
[…]Having Electrician Training Options
Having Electrician Training Options
Contractors To Sort Your Electricity Related Problems
Consider First Just Before Searching For Lakeside Electrical Contractor
Tips For Finding The Very Best Westminster Electrical Support On-line
Factors Why You’ll want to Hire Maintenance Electricians
The Coming Renaissance of Electrical Contracting – Software Advice Articles
Why Hire A Licensed Garden Grove Electrical Contractor
Guidelines For Obtaining The Very Best Westminster Electrical Support On The Internet at designingjacksonville.com
Tips For Finding The Very Best Westminster Electrical Support On-line […]
Excellent goods from you, man. SolarPanelTalk.com: NABCEP Russ TenagaSurya I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you are just too excellent.
I really like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it.
You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it sensible.
I can not wait to read far more from you. This is actually a terrific SolarPanelTalk.com: NABCEP Russ TenagaSurya informations.
[…] SolarPanelTalk.com: NABCEP Russ […]
Dengan energi surya, bumi menjadi lebih sehat untuk semua…