NABCEP has taken yet another big step in raising solar energy industry standards. Beginning this week, the NABCEP PV Entry Level Exam is available as a computer-based test offered at the more than 200 Pearson VUE testing centers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

NABCEP has always stood firmly by its objectivity as a test provider. Every presentation given by NABCEP Executive Director Ezra Auerbach, and every personal conversation for that matter, stresses that objectivity. The organization’s rigorous adherence to its core mission as a testing and certification body is one of its primary contributions to the industry.

Now, by removing virtually all of the entry level testing from the prevue of the training providers and placing that responsibility with a completely dis-interested (in a good way) third party, NABCEP is further enhancing its professionalism and making a positive contribution to the level of professionalism for the entire PV industry.

My company has been a NABCEP Entry Level Exam Provider for a couple of years and during that time we’ve administered the test to about 700 students. Throughout that process, we have been meticulous in our adherence to NABCEP’s policies and procedures regarding the exam. We have also steered clear of teaching the test – to do so would not only lessen the value of the exam, it would also damage our educational integrity and devalue our solar training. So, although I am proud of our track record as an entry level exam provider, I welcome the change.

Sales tip: Energy monitors are great for building customer pipelines. In sales it is said that getting your first check from a new customer is the hardest, especially when selling large ticket items like solar PV and thermal systems. But what if you could immediately get their attention with a high-tech energy monitoring device that has a low price point and lays the ground work for numerous products and services? That first check will be a lot easier to get and soon you will find you have many new customers who are watching their electric usage like never before! And, thanks to an elegant web based monitoring system, more open to learning more about how your PV and thermal systems will reduce their energy consumption.

One of our new products is the e-monitor from Powerhouse Dynamics. The Powerhouse Dynamics eMonitor is the world's first affordable, whole-house, circuit-by-circuit energy monitoring and management system.

The eMonitor's unique combination of hardware, software, and services lets you view your home's 24x7, minute-by-minute electricity use, electricity cost, and carbon footprint. as well as historical information by day, month, or year. Its personalized and intuitive graphical interface is available from anywhere you can access the internet. It also provides cost estimates based on current and past usage.

Each eMonitor configuration comes with enough hardware to monitor a number of circuits and is compatible with both 120v and 240v electrical systems. Most American homes will work with the eMonitor 24, which includes hardware for two 120v mains, and 22 additional individual circuits. Additional configurations are available for homes with more circuits, fewer circuits or those with a sub-panel.

Prices start @ $499.00 and is an effective way to build your customer base.

For the last decade, builders and remodelers have been keying their processes toward energy efficiency and the market's demand for energy saving components in their homes. With the tremendous push toward "Green", a whole new market has developed. "Green", despite all the washing of the term, has more market demand potential than energy efficiency ever had. Since Green is an holistic approach that not only includes energy efficiency but also water efficiency, occupant education, healthy indoor quality, and site management, both residential consumers and business owners are seeking Green alternatives to their buildings and processes to achieve an improved bottom line, cashflow, and reduced environmental impact while improving their health and sustainability of their homes and businesses.

Ontility Energy Services has and will continue to be a leader in the Green movement. Recently, Ontility has provided the consulting and verification services to the:

• 1.) first 2 new homes in Texas certified to the ANSI National Green Building Standard;
• 2.) the first Green remodel with additions in the nation;
• 3.) the first Emerald level green home in Texas;
• 4.), the first gold multifamily renovation in Texas.

We are diligently working with all our clients to help them achieve their Green certifications so that they can stand out amongst the crowd in their business efforts.

Many of our clients build to LEED certifications, Watersense, NAHB, Builders Challenge, and EPA indoor Air Plus. We are able to guide them through the process from start to finish and provide all necessary verification services to get their projects certified.

Currently, Ontility is the only company in Houston, and one of 3 companies in the entire state of Texas that can certify to ALL green building and Energy Efficiency programs.

Contact us and stay tuned to our monthly updates to learn more about what were doing to support our clients and this growing industry.

In his recent Sustainable Colorado article in the Denver Business Journal, Graham Russell makes a number of interesting points about the future of sustainable business practices and their impact on the economy. He comments that many of the jobs created by clean tech industries will not be new jobs for new workers, but will be modifications of current jobs performed by the same people who did the same jobs for non-sustainable businesses. He points out that the workers who will install and maintain solar farms are the same people who build coal fired power plants. He comments, “For example, those who end up servicing wind turbines in Colorado often will be the same folks who used to service oil and gas rigs, while those involved in the construction of utility-scale solar farms likely will be the same folks who built coal-fired power plants.”

Mr. Russell’s point that clean tech jobs are mostly modifications of current jobs is now widely accepted - the majority of green jobs are non-green jobs done in new more sustainable ways. Looking at it that way a green job can be defined very broadly – all jobs are green. At what point though, does the modified job become so fundamentally different from what it was when it was performed in a completely non-sustainable way that it is a new job? A hundred years ago bicycle mechanics became airplane inventors and buggy makers were retrained to build Chevys. At what point did they become part of the new transportation economy? Not instantly for sure. Initially, like many of the clean tech workers today, the bicycle mechanics and buggy makers did the same jobs they had always done, modified to meet the needs of a new product. But over time the industry matured, grew and far exceeded the available pool of displaced buggy builders and bike shop guys. At the same time, the emerging transportation industries demanded specialized workers. Clean tech industries are following a similar path.

Secondly, the folks who are working on gas rigs today are going to be working on gas rigs tomorrow. And next year and for the rest of Mr. Russell’s life and possibly the entire life span of his children. Just because we are installing renewable energy sources in greater and greater numbers doesn’t mean we’re going to abandon natural gas as a viable energy source. Nor are we going to stop building fossil fuel fired power plants. Those traditional energy industry jobs are in high demand and are highly desirable – good pay and benefits with large well-established companies. So the gas rig worker is still going to be working on the gas rig. So while some of the wind turbine and solar technicians will come from the fossil fuel industry, as many will come from other industries. Of the more than 700 students who have attended our solar training in the past two years, only a few have come from other parts of the energy industry.

Mr. Russell has made the same mistake he accuses others of making: assuming that our energy future is going to be all of one thing and none of another – that we will all at once abandon traditional energy sources and fully replace them with renewable ones.

The Fall exam date for NABCEP certification is quickly approaching. If you haven’t already applied to take the test, it may be too late. But it’s certainly not too late to start preparing.

I took the Solar PV Installer test this past March. I have to say that it was probably one of the harder open-book tests that I’ve taken. Now I’m not trying to scare anyone, but you need to be very well prepared if you want to pass. NABCEP certification has become the de facto standard for installing solar (thermal and PV) in the US. If it’s already not required to install solar in your area, it soon will be. You need to be certified.

When I walked out of the exam room, I realized that I was not as ready as I had thought. I had studied every resource and practice exam that I could find to prepare, but in the end the actual exam looked like none of what I had studied. Yet I managed to pass. Why? I think because I had spent so much time trying to solve the problem of passing the test that I practiced the very skill that is key to passing the test – Problem Solving. And that seems to be the crux of what NABCEP is looking for.

If you look at the Objectives and Task Analysis for the Solar PV Installer, everything in that document involves finding the best solution to a problem. Whether it’s identifying the correct way to deal with potential hazards, finding the best location for equipment or even selecting the best tools for a job, all of them require problem solving. As evidence, NABCEP puts significant emphasis on cognitive skills over the psychomotor skills in the Task Analysis document. Considering that this document has not changed since October, 2006, there must be some confidence that they got it right.

So how can you better prepare for the test?

I suggest spending as much time as you can in review of NEC - specifically the 2008 softbound version with the black and red cover. Electricians have an advantage by the very nature of their relationship with NEC, but even they should spend extra time with the code book. Other than a calculator, the code book is the only resource available to you during the 4-hour test. And you do not want to spend extra time trying to figure out what part of the code applies to the problems.

Additionally, review the details of every PV project you’ve been involved with, no matter how minor those details may seem. Think about issues you had to solve both during design and on-site. The kinds of problems you’ve solved before may show up on a 60 question test in September.

Lastly, find some study partners. If you can’t find people who have already taken the test, get together with people who are taking the test. Study partners can share experiences they’ve had, which will add to your knowledge base.

If after all of that you still feel like you need some extra help, join us at one of our AS210 Exam Prep classes being held around the country. We’ll bring study partners and share our vision of what you need to focus on to pass.

Ontility Energy Services is now offering a Dual BPI Certification in a one week class. The pre-requisite for this class is already being a rater or having taken the rater class and have the building science and mathematical skills of being a rater. The Dual BPI certification is 1 day of lecture on BPI Building Analyst Standards and Procedures followed by taking the BA written test. The next 1 day of class is lecture on BPI Envelope Standards and Procedures followed by taking the BPI Envelope written test. On Wednesday, learn the Combustion Safety Testing and CAZ testing requirements and performing the Field testing in the afternoon. .

ONE LOCATION – ONE WEEK – TWO BPI CERTIFICATIONS

What is a BPI Analyst?

Much like a HERS Rater, a BPI Analyst is like a home auditor that is trained and can diagnose the house as a system. This certification focuses on existing houses. BPI training includes - combustion safety testing – ensuring the safe operation of combustion appliances in homes.

Having both the RESNET Rater Certification and the BPI Building Analyst Certifications are invaluable for a professional home energy efficiency and performance testing auditor. Each training certification enhances the skills of the auditor and provides professional advancement opportunities.

Ontility has also become a WaterSense Provider, now instructing people who would like to advance into the New and Innovative Frontier, Water Efficiency. Becoming a WaterSense New Homes Certifier gives you the ability to label new homes as a WaterSense labeled home. The design of this program is to use less water by not allowing the normal amounts of cold water to be wasted while waiting on hot water to arrive. This program is designed for Plumbers, Home Inspectors, Irrigation Contractors, etc.

Ontility also offers specialty testing training classes.

Blower Door and Duct Blaster Training – This class teaches you how to test infiltration of the home and each duct system for tightness. These tests are now involved in the 2009 IECC Energy Conservation Code. This is a minimum code. Come learn how to use and benefit from these money making pieces of equipment. Ontility also offers this equipment in a Rater Pack that has everything bundled together.

Combustion Safety Testing – Come learn how to utilize equipment that can save peoples lives within their own home. Learn how to perform Combustion Appliance Zone testing at its best. Walk out of our classroom with a skill that every home auditor should know before suggesting home improvement measures that could potentially cause more problems if this test was not performed.

Comfort Testing – Come learn what testing is involved to ensure proper HVAC system function to create comfort in a home. This class involves learning how to conduct Static Pressure across the coil, Room to Room Pressure, Flow Measurements. Achieving all of these will achieve together is the only way to create a comfortable environment within a home.

Get GOLD STAR DUAL & TRIPLE Certified in ONE LOCATION

Whether you are an existing HERS Rater needing just the Combustion Safety Training and challenge the BPI written tests or a BPI Building Analyst needing the Rating Software and training and challenge the written test, we have all of the training you could ever need in one training location. If you have 10 or more students, Ontility will come to you and train at your staff at your location. We have our curriculum designed so that you can come in for 5 days and receive either the HERS Rater Certification or Dual BPI Certifications for $1,595.00. Ontility is even offering the first two days of Core Building Science and Math training along with the Residential Energy book by Krigger to see if this is the energy efficiency field is for you @ $615.00. We have another core curriculum on Day 3 that offers Testing Training and BPI Field Examination for $495.00. This class would be offered for existing Raters wanting to learn and get tested for the Field Examination portion of the BPI Certification. This class would be good if you were an existing inspector and wanted to increase your bottom line by just offering some additional testing in your current inspection or helping builders achieve 2009 IECC compliance. If you are an existing HERS Rater, Come for an additional one or two days at $275.00 each for the BPI-Building Analyst Standards and written test and BPI-Building Envelope Standards and written test. Add this to the Field Certification day and the cost would be $670.00 or $845.00 (whether you took the additional one or two days on top of the Field Training).

Ontility is not only a training partner but a valuable resource to obtain your testing equipment along with becoming a Certified Rating partner, offering services that no other Provider in the industry can.

To sign up for any full week course, just go to www.ontility.com. and sign up for either the RESNET Rater class or the DUAL Certification BPI course.

To sign up for any of the other classes listed above please get in contact with John Berry with Ontility at john.berry@ontility.com or 281-854-1423.

Check out our website for other training classes that fit your needs at www.ontility.com.

Ontility has it all in ONE LOCATION.

Technological innovation by itself will not solve our energy challenges.

Saul Griffith is a prolific inventor. Some categorize him with Edison and Tesla. During grad school at MIT and for a few years after, he was swept up in a furor of innovation and invention. His inventions range from a revolutionary wind turbine inspired by kite surfers to highways impregnated with solar PV material. He is most well regarded for the development of a revolutionary, low cost method for manufacturing prescription eyeglass lenses. In the tradition of generations of inventors, Griffith’s inventions are at once fantastic, interesting, fun, game changing and sometimes ridiculous.

And also in keeping with that tradition, only a few of his good ideas currently marketable and even fewer can be brought successfully through the arduous process of commercialization. It was this experience, once he had left the rarified atmosphere of the MIT Media Lab that led Griffith to adjust his perspective on innovation.

He said, regarding energy, that the need is not for some fantastic scientific discovery or technological innovation, but a widespread, fundamental, unprecedented change in behavior. Our attitudes about energy must change. Otherwise innovation has no impact on the problem.

As is true of most situations where behavior change is desired, education is key. We must have deeper more comprehensive knowledge of every step in the energy production, distribution and consumption cycle. We must understand to the fullest extent of our individual abilities the total cost of the blend of sources from which we get the energy we consume and the true cost of changing that mix.

Most of us get it when it comes to other products; automobiles for example: It takes little more than a cursory glance at Consumer Reports or Cars.com to see the total cost of ownership for a variety of cars and trucks. It’s easy to see that purchase price is not the whole picture.

When it comes to energy however, many are as ignorant of where it comes from and how it is distributed as they are about where food comes from. The total cost of a kilowatt is a complete mystery. The connection between light switch and electric bill is too abstract, the distance too great.

Is energy production, distribution and consumption so complex that it is un-understandable by most people? There are indeed a vast number of variables and the systems are of immense scope, but we’re not talking about engineering level understanding. Even modest enlightenment could have a huge impact.

This is where distributed energy production can, in addition to its other more widely recognized advantages, help. When you are the producer of at least some of the energy you consume, you become more fully aware of how the whole system works. That mental distance between switch and bill is reduced.

The newly released NABCEP PV Technical Sales Task Analysis includes the expected financial analysis skills required of anyone selling renewable energy systems. It also includes a section entitled, “Non-Financial Benefit Analysis.” Most of the tasks in this section relate to environmental benefits, but others provides an opportunity for every solar training program to not only teach solar professionals how to accurate calculate and articulate ROI, but also to advance a fundamental broad-based understanding of energy systems; the total cost of a kilowatt.

The solar energy industry is maturing in many ways. It is moving quickly beyond the “mom and pop shop” wear-as-many-hats-as-it-takes phase. Solar companies are growing and specialization is coming, fast.

To keep up with the industry’s maturation, NABCEP announced recently the release of a job task analysis for PV Technical Sales Certification. This certification will apply to people not directly engaged in the installation of PV systems – as Ezra Auerbach, Executive Director of NABCEP said recently, “anyone who doesn’t wear a tool belt”. This and other certifications NABCEP has planned are necessary and very welcome. They not only acknowledge the maturity of the industry; they also provide a credentialed career path for a variety of renewable energy professionals.

From the point of view of a training developer, I welcome the opportunity to bring specialized, highly focused courses into a solar training program. Students will be better-served through higher quality, more relevant coursework. The days of one-size-fits-all solar training are past.

NABCEP’s new task analysis clearly acknowledges a trend toward specialization. It also will lead that trend. The demand for credentialed specialists is part of the market – the presence of credentials for specialists feeds the demand.

And in the same way that the PV installer task analysis has influenced how installers are trained, the Technical Sales analysis will guide the development of new courses, new criteria for competence and a new level of professionalism.

The solar market is changing very quickly. Incentive programs are evolving to keep paced with demand. Rebate programs and tax credits have been expanded and extended for much of the next decade and are being supplemented by production-based incentives (Power Purchase Agreements, Feed-In Tariffs, etc.) Generous financing options (PACE Programs) are on the books in cities and counties nationwide (poised for rollout in several major markets this year) making it possible for homeowners and commercial property owners to install solar with little up-front outlay.

So, the demand is present as evidenced by the number of incentive programs that “sell out” in the first weeks of being offered. And the money is lining up. Solar is attracting the attention of investors - online discussion forums are replete with entries from VC representatives with $100M+ looking for “shovel-ready” projects.

Are you ready for an explosion?

To be ready, start with training. One of the most progressive utility companies in Texas, CPS in San Antonio, has stipulated as part of its expanding incentive program that in addition to being a licensed electrical contractor, solar installers must be certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) within two years of becoming registered with CPS. Other utilities have similar requirements as do some State government programs.

With only about 1,000 NABCEP certified installers nationwide, there is and will continue to be a shortage of trained, qualified and certified solar installers. Now is the time to get on board. The NABCEP certification process is not trivial. It requires study, training and field experience. Those who wait until the market explodes to begin the certification process may find themselves a year or more behind their competitors.

When the 2009 Texas legislative session ended without passage of a statewide solar energy incentive program there was much wringing of hands. We had seen the results of state government action in New Jersey and Louisiana. We saw the huge potential here. If only . . .

Months passed and the on again, off again nature of some utility sponsored incentives continued (and continues) to cause glitches in the trajectory for the solar PV market. These glitches are in fact the result of higher than anticipated demand – programs sold out much faster than anticipated – so it’s really not a bad problem in the big scheme of things since it signals that the demand is there.

Now in true Texas fashion, local municipalities, utility companies and good ole capitalism are responding. A new generation of utility-based incentives is here, well funded and designed for sustainability.

An excellent example is CPS Energy, San Antonio’s municipally owned electric utility.

First, CPS embraced distributed and diversified electricity generation. It is the nation’s leader among municipally owned utilities in wind power and leads Texas in solar power with 41MW under contract. It has set goal of adding another 5MW of distributed solar generating capacity during each of the next two years..

Next, to help grow the residential and small commercial market, CPS has expanded its rebate program to include small systems, those producing as little as 500W AC, and larger systems up to 100kW. Rebates will pay up to 50% of system cost at a rate of $3 per Watt AC up to $30,000 for residential and $100,000 for commercial systems.

And CPS has announced its Solartricity Producer Program. Systems between 25 and 500kW qualify for a 20 year agreement where CPS will pay the producer $.27 per kilowatt hour for electricity fed back to the grid. Finally, a consistent, guaranteed return on investment.

Yes, incentives are still driving the renewable energy market, but they have gone way beyond rebates and tax credits. Power Purchase Agreements like those announced by CPS in San Antonio and TXU in north Texas are creating truly sustainable vehicles for investors and property owners to become electricity producers.

Is it time to install solar? It certainly looks that way in San Antonio. And is it time for electrical contractors to prepare for explosive market growth? I think so.