Training programs

01 Jul 07 | Training

While I have a background in electronics and engineering, there are several aspects of renewable energy installation that I need to learn. In order to offer the New York State sponsored rebates, I need to be a certified installer, this means I need to have some training, some experience and pass a written test. For more about the certification process, visit the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners‘ web site. That site spells out all the various requirements for certifications in solar thermal, photovoltaic and wind power installations.

Fortunately, there are several training programs available in various parts of the country. The first place I looked was the local community college, they do not have a course or certificate program for solar power. They recommended contacting the local BOCES, which in New York state, is sort of the catch all for miscellaneous educational and vocational programs.

They did have a solar installer course, but it was already full.

Then I found the Solar Energy International web site. They have several workshops that look very interesting. I did a bit of research to find out if this training qualifies as training toward the NABCEP certificate required by New York state to qualify for the photovoltaic incentive program. According to the NABCEP candidate handbook, it does. The two courses I am interested in are the online PV course and the course titled “Starting your own Solar Business,” which sounds interesting indeed.

Other than those course, there are quite a few course on solar thermal, wind power, etc that also look interesting. I think my main focus will be solar energy to start, either photovoltaics or solar thermal and then I will and the other renewable energy systems to my business as time allows.

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