October 4, 2011 (Clifton Park, NY)  – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) released today a revised version of the Job Task Analysis (JTA) for their PV Installer Certification. Ezra Auerbach, Executive Director of NABCEP, says; “The revisions that were released for publication today address many of the questions and concerns that have been voiced since the JTA was published in the summer of 2010.” He continues, “There are very few changes of major substance; the job of the installer largely remains the same. The revision addresses the focus of the document and clarifies that the installer’s duties include review and adaption of the design of the system and that the installer is expected to start with a set of plans, materials, and manuals.”

The revisions were developed through a collaborative process that involved over twenty leading subject matter experts that serve on the PV Technical Committee. Don Warfield, chairperson of NABCEP, says; “I want to thank the volunteer members of the PV Technical Committee for the huge amount of effort that they have invested in this JTA. These detailed documents are the foundation of our credentialing programs. Their work is central to our ability to deliver meaningful and market-appropriate certifications.”

The JTA is available here.

September 29, 2011 (Clifton Park, NY)  – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is pleased to announce the release of the revised and updated Job Task Analysis (JTA) for its Solar Heating Installer Certification. The JTA is the result of a collaborative process undertaken by a group of thirteen subject matter experts that volunteered their time and knowledge. It was then validated through an online survey process, to which more than 100 solar heating installation professionals responded.

Ezra Auerbach, Executive Director of NABCEP, says, “The JTA is a core element of any certification program and regular updates are necessary to ensure that the credential offered is based on most current best practices and technology in use. The JTA we are releasing today was developed in accordance with certification industry standards and, as such, continues to ensure the relevance of the NABCEP Solar Heating Installer Certification.”

Along with the release of this JTA comes a name change for the credential from Solar Thermal Installer to Solar Heating Installer. NABCEP Board Director and co-chair of the Solar Heating Technical Committee Les Nelson says, “This name change reflects the actual work done by NABCEP certificants in the field today, and helps clarify that these individuals have demonstrated knowledge of the various skills required to safely install solar heating systems. Over the last decade, solar thermal has come to mean large-scale solar heating projects designed to produce electricity. NABCEP Solar Heating Installer Certification reflects knowledge of the skills required to install smaller-scale distributed solar heating technologies. This name change will help avoid confusion between these different applications of solar heat technologies.”

The JTA is available on the NABCEP website at Solar Heating Installer JTA.

September 22, 2011 (Clifton Park, NY)  -  The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is pleased to announce its first-ever Continuing Education (CE) Conference. This conference will be held from Friday, March 30th, 2012 until Sunday, April 1st, 2012 at Hudson Valley Community College’s TEC-SMART facility in Malta, NY. The objective of this conference is to offer NABCEP certified installers and technical sales professionals an opportunity that allows them to fulfill their CE requirements at a single event. In combination with manufacturer’s training sessions, conference registrants will be able to attend workshops on the NEC, financial analysis, safety, and emerging fire codes.

September 8, 2011 (Clifton Park, NY) – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is pleased to announce the official launch of its Solar Heating Entry Level Program. Building on the unprecedented success of the NABCEP Entry Level Photovoltaic Program, NABCEP has developed a similar program for the solar heating industry. Like other NABCEP Entry Level Programs this one is based on a set of industry developed and approved Learning Objectives. These Learning Objectives provide educators with guidance of what subject matter should be covered for a student to be successful in the knowledge assessment NABCEP offers in the form of an Entry Level Exam. Those who pass the exam are awarded Passing Score Achievement Documents.

Don Warfield, Chairperson of NABCEP states, “The PV Entry Level Exam Program has proven to be a great way for individuals to embark on careers in the solar electric industry; over 9,000 candidates have passed this exam, and many have gone on to work in PV industry related jobs. Over a quarter of those who have now become certified PV Installers started out in a PV Entry Level Program. We anticipate similar results from the Solar Heating Entry Level Program.”

Like the PV Entry Level Program, the exam will be offered in both paper and pencil and computer-based testing (CBT) format though NABCEP’s network of registered Exam Providers and Prometric testing centers. To qualify to take the exam, candidates will need to complete a training program at one of the NABCEP Registered Solar Heating Entry Level Exam Providers. A complete list of Registered PV and Solar Heating Entry Level Providers can be found at NABCEP’s website. Successful candidates for the Solar Heating Exam will receive a passing score achievement that states that they “…have demonstrated a basic knowledge of the fundamental principals of Solar Heating application, design, installation, operation and troubleshooting.”

Ezra Auerbach, NABCEP’s Executive Director states, “Thanks to the committed and hard work of a number of volunteers, we now can offer those wanting to enter the Solar Heating industry a knowledge assessment program that is meaningful and the first step towards installer certification. As always it is very important to note that a passing score achievement on an Entry Level Exam is NOT a certification, and successful candidates are in no way achieving NABCEP Certification.”

NABCEP invites all educators who are interested in training individuals for this exam to contact their office at 1-800-650-0021 for more information on becoming a registered provider. The first administrations of the exam in paper and pencil format will begin on October 1, 2011 with computer-based testing at Prometric Testing Centers to follow early in 2012.

August 10, 2011 (Clifton Park, NY) – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners is releasing today clarification of the eligibility criteria to sit for its PV Technical Sales Exam. The clarifications address: verifiable sales experience, what constitutes a proposal and training. The terms of the eligibility are effective immediately and all candidates wishing to apply for the next round of NABCEP PV Technical Sales Exam will be required to meet the criteria as published today.

The most significant clarifications in the criteria are:

Definition of proposal – Sales proposals must include the following information:  proposed PV system size in kW; evidence of a shade analysis; the amount of kWh the PV system is expected to produce annually; the revenue that the electricity generated will produce; the total cost of the system; any incentive or tax benefits that may be applied to the total cost.  Additional information may include the internal rate of return (IRR), payback period, cash flow over the life of the system, non-financial benefits, and any income that will be gained from renewable energy credits.

Definition of verifiable sales experience – Verifiable sales experience = Actively engaged in solar PV systems sales-related activities, including the completion of the number of solar PV system proposals required by the applicant’s Qualifying Category.  See, Section II.

For each of the four (4) solar PV system proposals to be completed in each twelve (12) month period prior to applying for NABCEP PV Technical Sales Certification, the following requirements apply:

-  At least two (2) must have resulted in completed sales and installation;

-  At least 2 must relate to systems larger than 2kW DC (peak);

-  At least 1 of the installations must be a system that is grid connected; and,

-  No more than 1 proposal may be submitted to a relative or someone residing at the applicant’s address.  This proposal must have resulted in a completed sales and installation.

Ezra Auerbach, NABCEP’s executive director says, “These clarifications were adopted to make it easier for candidates to understand what is expected of them to qualify to sit for the PV Technical Sales Exam. They are the result of reviewing applications for the previous two rounds of testing and learning which terms required better definition.”

The next round of NABCEP PV Technical Sales exam will be held from January 21 to February 4, 2012. The deadline for submitting applications for this round of exams is November 14, 2011. NABCEP encourages those who wish to sit for the next round of exams to apply early. Application fees are discounted by 25% until October 14, 2011.

Please refer to the NABCEP website for complete details regarding eligibility criteria for the PV Technical Sales Certification.

July 29, 2011 (Clifton Park, NY) – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is pleased to report that work continues to advance on the Company Accreditation program that was announced earlier this year. Owners and senior management personnel of residential and light commercial PV Installation companies are invited to offer their views on the proposed accreditation program by taking part in an online survey. The survey presents the requirements and electives of the program and asks respondents to indicate their agreement with each standard and the length of time it would take the responding company to meet each proposed standard. There are sections for input on the suggested cost of accreditation and, of course, an opportunity to offer general comments on the accreditation program proposal.

A cornerstone of all NABCEP programs is ensuring that they meet the needs of the renewable energy markets that are served and the company accreditation program is no exception. The accreditation program criteria was developed through a collaborative process involving a committee of business owners and senior managers. The intent of the survey is to validate the work of the committee and gather input that will enable them to review the markets’ response to their efforts and further fine tune the criteria to meet the needs of the PV installation industry.

Ezra Auerbach, NABCEP’s executive director says, “There has been much interest in the past few years in a program that will enable PV installation companies to demonstrate that they meet the highest standards in the industry. The company accreditation program is intended to allow the most outstanding companies in the industry to distinguish themselves. It offers them a way to show their customers that the entire company is committed to quality assurance.”

Individuals should visit http://www.surveywriter.net/in/survey/survey310/NABCEP_accr.asp to take part in the survey before August 15, 2011.

June 13, 2011 (Boulder, CO) – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) presented the first annual Walt Ratterman Award for Creative Community Energy to Wade Andrews of Namaste Solar in Boulder, Colorado on June 13, 2011. Wade, a NABCEP certificant, won for a 2010 domestic PV project on the Cal-Wood Education Center in Colorado.

The annual Walt Ratterman Award for Creative Community Energy was created by NABCEP to recognize and honor Walt Ratterman, one of NABCEP’s first certificants, who was killed while working in Haiti when the devastating earthquake struck in 2010. Walt’s astonishing renewable energy work among some of the worlds most needy was truly inspirational. Walt channeled his efforts into the non-profit company he co-founded, SunEnergy Power International (SunEPI). Since his death the company is no longer an active organization, although the website serves as a resource for past projects and a portal for supporting the  Solar Energy International (SEI) Walt Ratterman Scholarship Fund.  The company’s mission was “to promote an increased quality of life in remote, rural regions of the world through the use of renewable energy.” In addition to Haiti, Walt participated in humanitarian relief efforts in many diverse developing countries.

“By awarding this inaugural award to a domestic project, we hope it will inspire others to look around their own communities and see where work close to home can make a positive difference to the lives of their less fortunate neighbors,” said Ezra Auerbach, Executive Director of NABCEP.

Wade Andrews is a Namaste Solar co-owner and PV Installation Project Leader who led the crew that installed the system at Cal-Wood. “Namaste Solar is thrilled to be able to contribute to Cal-Wood’s ongoing mission by donating an 8.28 kW solar PV system to their main building,” said Wade. “Walt Ratterman is an inspiration to me and I look forward in the future to doing work further afield in honor of Walt,” he said during the award ceremony.

The system at Cal-Wood will allow both school students and adults who visit the center to learn about solar PV and its benefits. Many of the school students who visit Cal-Wood are from the city of Denver and often have had few if any experiences in the outdoors. Similarly, they may be unaware of renewable energy and its benefits.

The Walt Ratterman Award is presented each year to the NABCEP certificant who does the most creative public service oriented renewable energy project. Installations can be domestic or off shore and they must be performed at no charge for a not-for-profit or charitable organization. Don Warfield, chairperson of NABCEP says, “We hope the award will encourage more people to submit nominations next year for projects both here and abroad.”

Click here to leave the NABCEP site and go to Renewable Energy World to see video coverage of the award presentation. NABCEP does not endorse any advertisers on the REW site.”

April 1, 2011 (Clifton Park, NY) – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) announced today that it has progressed sufficiently far with its Company Accreditation program to share basic details of this long awaited program. Ezra Auerbach, NABCEP’s executive director says, “An ever growing number of companies are contacting us and asking how they can become accredited to a NABCEP standard of excellence. We are very pleased to be able to say that companies which focus on PV installation will be the first type of business which NABCEP will offer accreditation to.” He continues, “We could not have gotten this far in the process without the support of our tireless volunteers.”

Working on a consensus basis the NABCEP Company Accreditation Committee, which represents a wide variety of types of solar businesses, has agreed to the basic precepts of the program. In brief all accredited companies will have to be fully accountable for quality assurance, safety, continuity and corporate citizenship. Each employee of the accredited company will be required to sign a code of ethics that binds them to the highest professional standards. Each accredited company will also agree to meet a set of minimum standards with respect to employment of trained and certified personnel along with documented customer service, training, safety and quality assurance programs. Accreditation will be awarded on the basis of meeting all minimum standards and earning at least 60 points based on “elective” company actions including hiring additional certified personnel, offering higher than required degrees of training and other similar commitments to corporate excellence. All accredited companies will agree to accept and pay for independent third party audits of the installation work they perform.

To ensure that this program will meet the needs of the PV industry, NABCEP will enter into an extensive and wide reaching process to gather input from stakeholders before the Company Accreditation Program is launched. The first step will be conducting an on-line survey to validate the standards set forth by the committee. Company owners, their employees, policy makers and consumers are invited to take part in the survey that will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. Those who are willing to be surveyed should email info@nabcep.org with the subject line “Company Accreditation”; doing so will automatically put those individuals on a to-be contacted list when the survey launches.

After the survey is completed and results are reviewed NABCEP will revise their plan as necessary to reflect the feedback received. It will then host a series of web based “town hall” meetings to unveil a revised draft of the Company Accreditation Program and get a final round of input. Only those who have completed the survey will be invited to participate in these meetings.

Don Warfield, chairperson of NABCEP says, “We feel that it is very important to engage in such a far reaching input process to ensure that this program has the full support of the PV industry and look forward to a high degree of stakeholder participation and lively dialogue.”

February 28, 2011 (Clifton Park, NY) – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is pleased to congratulate the 97 individuals who achieved a passing score on the recently administered PV Technical Sales Examination. The group of inaugural certificants has demonstrated extensive knowledge of the complex range of activities that make up a successful photovoltaic sales process. The job task analysis (JTA) that the exam is based on covers eight main topic areas: qualifying the customer; site analysis; conceptual design; financial costs, incentives, and savings; financial benefit analysis and financing; non-financial benefit analysis; performance analysis; and proposal preparation.

Don Warfield, chairperson of NABCEP, says, “Given the topic range of the exam, I’m confident that those who are certified as PV Technical Sale Professionals will be able to provide the highest level of ethical, accurate presentations of a proposed PV systems’ electrical, financial, and environmental performance projections.” He continues, “This credential dovetails nicely with our existing ‘gold-standard’ PV Installer Certification because it offers consumers quality assurance throughout the entire sales, installation, and commissioning process.”

Ezra Auerbach, NABCEP’s executive director, says, “This is the first certification program exam that NABCEP has delivered through a computer-based format—we are very happy with the outcome and have received almost universally positive feed back from exam candidates.” Auerbach continues, “We are already hearing a great deal of interest for the next administration of this exam, and we expect a much higher volume of candidates for the next round of testing.”

The second administration of the NABCEP PV Technical Sales Exam will be held July 15–30, 2011 at computer test centers across the US and Canada. The application deadline to sit for this round of the exam is May 6, 2011. All applications must be completed and received by NABCEP by that date for candidates to be considered for the July examination window. Candidates who complete their applications (including uploading all supporting documentation) before April 1, 2011 will receive a $25 discount on their application fee.

You can now show your support for NABCEP by displaying our corporate logo on a wide variety of items, ranging from cozy winter toques and pullover sweats to pens, flashlights, and even ANSI-approved safety caps. Visit our store at http://www.nabceponlinestore.org/, click on “The General Interest” tab and shop for NABCEP-branded goods. If you are a Certified NABCEP Installer don’t miss ”The Certificants Only” portion of the site where you can purchase clothing that is branded with the Certified Installer (or sales professional) logo, personalized with your name and certification number.