NABCEP Announces the Creation of the Walt Ratterman Award for Creative Community Energy
Clifton Park, NY, June 2, 2010 – NABCEP
The Board and Staff of the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) are pleased to announce the creation of the Walt Ratterman Award for Creative Community Energy. “We have launched this award to recognize and honor Walt and his astonishing renewable energy work among some of the world’s most needy people,” says NABCEP Executive Director Ezra Auerbach.
Walt channeled his efforts into the non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization he co-founded, SunEnergy Power International (SunEPI). The company’s mission is “to promote an increased quality of life in remote, rural regions of the world through the use of renewable energy”. More information about SunEPI can be found at www.sunepi.org. As one of NABCEP’S first certificants Walt did all of us proud with the quality of work he left behind everywhere he went.
His wife, Jeanne Ratterman, says, “His humor, love, knowledge, hard work ethic, thoroughness, teaching and insisting on work that would meet code in any affluent country of the world, leaving his students with a working knowledge and a skill for work in their country to maintain the systems were all part of why those he helped loved him. He returned to make sure systems continued working optimally, and embellished any teaching that was needed.”
The “Walt Ratterman” award will be presented to the NABCEP Certificant who does the most creative public service oriented renewable energy project of the year. Installations can be domestic or off shore, but they must be performed at no charge for a charitable organization. Considerations such as legacy, local labor and material content, on-the-job-training and project sustainability will help guide the award committee.
Board Chair Don Warfield says, “Walt was an amazing man; his commitment to those less fortunate was one of his defining characteristics. His work was inspirational for many in our industry. By creating this award we hope that Walt’s legacy will continue to inspire other RE installers to follow his formidable lead.”
Nominees for the award must be NABCEP Certificants in good standing and may work in any technology that NABCEP offers certifications for. The recipient of the award will be announced each year at a major renewable energy conference. Nominations should include details of the individual nominated, their projects and the nominator’s reasons for the nomination. All nominations should be forwarded to Ezra Auerbach (eauerbach@nabcep.org).
The first recipient of this award will be announced in 2011, nominations for the award will be accepted until December 31, 2010.
For more information about the Award, please see the Information Sheet on NABCEP’s website.
About NABCEP
The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is a volunteer board of renewable energy stakeholder representatives that includes representatives of the solar industry, NABCEP certificants, renewable energy organizations, state policy makers, educational institutions, and the trades. Each member of the board was chosen because of his or her experience and involvement in the solar energy industry. NABCEP’s mission – to support, and work with, the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, professionals, and stakeholders – is intended to develop and implement quality credentialing and certification programs for practitioners.
About Walt Ratterman
Walt Ratterman went from shop boy to Senior Vice President in the 15 years he did projects for Foley Electric, Inc. (one of America’s largest electrical contractors) for fifteen years. He subsequently founded TRC Electrical Construction Services, a commercial electrical contracting firm installing solar PV systems in Pennsylvania and Maryland. In 2003 Walt was one of the first PV installers to pass the rigorous North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certification exam. He earned a Master of Science degree in Renewable Energy from Murdoch University in Australia, and has extensive renewable energy design and installation experience internationally.
Walt’s hands-on PV experience includes residential and commercial PV installations in the eastern U.S., as well as rural solar PV installations in Nicaragua, the Galapagos Islands, southern Ecuador, Peru, Arunachal Pradesh in India, Burma, Thailand, and Rwanda with NGO organizations such as Solar Energy International and Knightsbridge International. A Commissioner of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Walt has participated in humanitarian relief efforts in other diverse developing nations including Afghanistan, southern Philippines, and Cambodia.
For more information about Walt and his remarkable work, please listen to this podcast available on RenewableEnergyWorld.com about his life and his impact on the solar industry.
About SunEnergy Power International
It is the mission of SunEnergy Power International to promote an increased quality of life in remote, rural regions of the world through the use of renewable energy. SunEPI concentrates on some of the more difficult areas of the world: difficult due to either remoteness or geopolitical conditions in the area. Our projects are driven by what our clients tell us their needs are, and most often focus on basic life essentials such as delivery of health systems and delivery of water.
Contributions to continue the legacy of Walt’s work may be made to SunEnergy Power International at their website (www.sunepi.org).