How Can I Get Hands-On Experience?
By Liz Merry
Published: March 10, 2009
Q:
My name is Jason Grimes. I live in Cache Valley, which is located in northern Utah. I want to become a photovoltaic (PV) designer/installer. I have already completed a basic grid-tie PV [course through Solar Energy International (SEI)] and an SEI advanced PV with National Electric Code compliance course, and I’ve passed the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners’ (NABCEP) certificate of knowledge test. I have even filed [to become a limited liability company] in Utah.
In order for me to become licensed in Utah, I need to get the NABCEP PV certificate. This is the nationally recognized qualification for licensing. In Utah, you must have this certificate in order to qualify as an installer.
My problem is, in order to qualify for the NABCEP test, you must show proof of a minimum of two years in-the-field experience. There are zero solar installers in my region for me to ask for help with this. I started asking licensed installers across Utah, and nobody has been willing to help. I even called a major PV installer in Redding, Calif., [and offered] to work for free and pay all costs (insurance, etc.) for the opportunity.
It has been a year now, and I still have yet to gain this experience. This means it's at least another two years for my area to get a licensed solar contractor. I see big problems in getting qualified, licensed PV installers anywhere in Utah and probably in more areas across the country. Do you have any comments or guidance for me?
Jason
A:
Hi Jason,
Your question relates to everyone wanting a career in solar. Everyone wants or needs direct experience. It almost always comes down to volunteering, organizing projects yourself and some measure of recruiting your own customers.
You have completed some great training. And it looks like your customers in Utah will have retail net metering soon, which means your marketplace is about to heat up big time (see an article on the subject at deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C705285019%2C00.html). Read more about additional incentives in Utah at dsireusa.org.
Volunteering is one way to network, gain experience, and generate opportunities for your business. Utah has an American Solar Energy Society chapter, the Utah Solar Energy Association: utsolar.org (find a full list of ASES Chapters at ases.org/chapters). These folks volunteer their time to run a chapter, organize solar home tours and help educate the public about solar. They’re often able to provide guidance on success in your marketplace, too. If you’re not already involved in the chapter, it’s a good time to get involved. Help organize a local solar tour, write articles for their newsletter, recruit sponsors for their events — anything!
To get hands-on experience, you might look to Habitat for Humanity (habitat.org) or other nonprofits that build homes. There is a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate near you, and if they aren’t already including solar in their projects, you might be the catalyst to get them started. You’ll be a very welcome set of hands if you can help get the equipment donated in part or in full.
Another option to get started — you could build a pool of customers who want you on the job (friends and family, church groups, service organizations), and then recruit a licensed electrician-installer to install them all at once (as you apprentice with him or her) and stay in your area for the duration of the projects.
An observation: The NABCEP website lists only six certificate holders for your state, but the state website lists many solar-related companies (geology.utah.gov/SEP/renewable_energy/solar/solrdeal.htm). Either all these companies are working with just the six certificated installers, or there are various ways to work in solar in Utah without NABCEP installers on the payroll. It’s something you might want to research.
Finally, I posed your question to some installer friends as well as the chairperson of the NABCEP. Here are some of their edited responses:
We absolutely understand that it is difficult to get "real world" experience in a state where the market is very small and the jobs are few and far between.
Mr. Grimes has tried the obvious solution of trying to work with an already recognized contractor and that apparently hasn't worked for him. My best advice would be to persevere and continue to try to get some solar work experience. In his case, it will be an absolute must. Because he is not already a journeyman electrician, he will need two years of job site installation experience. It might be a good idea for him to consider entering an electrical apprenticeship program, so he can be working on achieving his trade qualifications as well as NABCEP Certification during his period of on the job training.
— Ezra Auerbach, chairperson, NABCEP
I think the best way to get into solar is to get involved. The first step I would take would be to research volunteer opportunities through nonprofit organizations. The solar movement started as a grassroots effort. Infiltrate the subculture. The opportunities will follow.
— Rebecca Litke, solar installer and foreman, Berkeley, Calif.
Places like Utah, Oregon, Washington and quite a few others have individual licensing as opposed to California's contractor licensing, which means that one has to go through an apprenticeship program and pass a test to work as an electrician under an electrical contractor (a second level of licensure!). I agree that it makes it even harder to qualify to sit for a NABCEP test in some ways, but it sure yields a more skilled electrician.
As to, "What would you advise all the contractors who need experience installing?" I am pretty biased in that regard. If you aren't a licensed electrician, don't install. If you haven't gotten some significant training in system design, safety, mounting best practices and the requirements of NEC 690, don't install until you do.
— Bob-O Shultze, NABCEP installer with 30-plus years of experience in the solar business in rural northern California
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