Blog entries

NABCEP Further Raises Solar Industry Standards

Ken Whiteside — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:53:51 +0100

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 organizatRead More...

Energy Monitoring opens the door for alternative energy sales

John Berry — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 07:00:00 +0100

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 maRead More...

The Push for Energy Efficiency

Clayton Farmer — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:31:18 +0100

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 indoorRead More...

The Scope of Change in Renewable and Non-Renewable Jobs

Ken Whiteside — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:16:29 +0100

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 mainRead More...

Preparing for the Solar PV Installer Exam

Brian Cunningham — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:05:59 +0100

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 Read More...

One Week of Classes = Two BPI Certifications

Brannon King — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:07:51 +0100

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 Read More...

Innovation and Energy

Ken Whiteside — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:26:05 +0100

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 manufacturingRead More...

NABCEP Task Analysis

Ken Whiteside — Fri, 21 May 2010 07:00:00 +0100

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 NABCEPRead More...

Preparing for an Explosive Market

Ken Whiteside — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:11:02 +0100

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 commerRead More...

The Solar Market, Texas Style

Ken Whiteside — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:02:42 +0100

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 Read More...

Renewable Energy in the Media

Brian Cunningham — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 01:41:59 +0100

In the last few months, there has been a lot of attention by the main stream media to the Renewable Energy revival. It seems that I can find an article on Solar Photovoltaics, LEED construction or just “Going Green” in almost every issue of my local paper here in Dallas. Multiple articles in one issue are not unheard of. The encouraging part is that most of the articles are very positive – not something I’m used to from our media.

Now I don’t know how Read More...

There Is No Such Thing As Too Many Tools

Brian Cunningham — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 01:34:26 +0100

Or as I like to say, you can’t fix everything with a hammer.

As part of the training team here at ONTILITY, I spend a significant amount of time teaching students about all the different tools that are available. And as an admitted tool junkie, I spend a lot of time on the look out for tools that will make my job a little easier, both in the classroom and away.

Now if I have a job to do, I make sure that I have all the correct tools to do the job right the very first tiRead More...

Bigger & Better Ontility Headquarters – See for Yourself

Hollis Miles — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:03:30 +0100

In my last blog post titled “Early Solar Dealers are Positioning for Boom”, I discussed how dealer/installers were positioning themselves for the “solar boom” that is beginning to take place around the country. Just over one month later I continue to see this same boom, expanding quickly… even in the Ontility office.

Ontility moved to our current Houston Headquarters facility in mid-2009. Our warehouse was not full and had plenty of room for pallets of solar panels. Even some of ouRead More...

All jobs are green – there are no green jobs.

Ken Whiteside — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:37:41 +0100

Three years ago we hadn’t heard of green jobs outside of environmentalist circles. Since then there has been much debate about what a green job really is; which jobs are green, which are not. Now there is an almost constant stream of green job fairs, symposia, and conferences. Green jobs are everywhere. There are green jobs at auto plants, office buildings and oil companies. In much of the country all jobs are green. Headlines tout that green jobs will lead the economic recovery –Read More...

Suntech, Canadian Solar, Yingli Green - We See Suntech as the Clear Leader

Tom Pash — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:07:13 +0100

I hear lot's of discussion around Suntech as compared to Canadian Solar and Yigli. Here is the simple version of the discussion in black and white. Keep in mind, these manufactures are all priced pretty similarly.

Efficiency/Watts per Square Foot:

Suntech's 195S-24/Ad+ panel has an efficiency of 15.3% and a watts per square foot of 14.2 vs. Canadian Solar's best of 13.8 watts per square foot on their CS5A-190 and Yingli Green's 12.3 watts per square foot on their YL175Wp. HRead More...

Picking a trained/qualified installer – is it really important?

Brian Cunningham — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:18:51 +0100

At an engineering industry conference many years ago, I was told by an automotive engineer that if the average consumer knew how cars were designed and constructed that no one would ever drive a car above 35 mph. I hoped he was exaggerating, but I have seldom neglected my car’s preventative maintenance since that meeting. The point is that I had never really thought about what went into making a car safe to drive. My car was just something I used without really thinking too much abouRead More...

Early Solar Dealers are Positioning for Boom

Hollis Miles — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:38:26 +0100

The solar market is about to boom and a few opportunistic entrepreneurs are positioning themselves to be ready when it happens. Small businesses around the country are scrambling to get ahead of the game and their competition by getting trained in solar electric installation and becoming dealers and installers of solar panels.

It’s not just about being “green” anymore

In the past, the “green” movement had driven much of the business in the solar iRead More...

How Much Solar Training is Enough?

Ken Whiteside — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:16:50 +0100

How much solar training is enough? How many solar installers do you really need to train? Are you at risk of training more clean energy workers than there are jobs?

These are legitimate questions that I hear often – questions that those of us at the center of solar, wind and energy efficiency training grapple with and discuss.

The Federal government, through the accountability measures attached to ARRA funds, is asking the same questions, and demanding answers from trainRead More...

Renewable Energy and Vocational Education

Ken Whiteside — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:47:19 +0100

After nearly a half century of neglect, vocational education is coming back and energy self sufficiency is leading the way. The call for jobs that can’t be exported, the need for millions of workers who have been displaced, the need for newly trained solar, wind, geothermal and energy efficiency workers all points to a revival of hands-on training, practical, immediately applicable education – simply put vocational education.

There are millions of young people who are bettRead More...

The Ever-Expanding Scope of Solar PV

Brian Cunningham — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:31:28 +0100

ONtility CEO, Tom Pash, has reported, the world wide market for Solar PV modules continues to drive prices down. At the same time, PV module manufacturers are delivering products with excellent performance, including cell efficiencies in the 17% range and 25 year power warranties. Pricing for some PV modules is already below the $2/watt point. These factors combine to make Solar PV a win-win proposition for the residential system owner. The quality of the product, reliability, improved reRead More...