The solar industry is still relatively new. It’s going through all kinds of growing pains, from determining the best solar incentives and financing options to figuring out the best materials for solar panels themselves. One of the ways in which the industry has yet to really settle is training: for most highly-skilled trades, there is a proscribed certification process. For solar installers, the single most recognizable professional benchmark is getting a voluntary NABCEP certification. (NABCEP is the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, in case you were wondering. It’s a mouthful.) The organization makes a great argument for certification:

Benefits of certification exist for both installers and consumers:

For installers:

• Identifies installers as professionals, instilling consumer confidence in their work
• Validates extra resources spent on training and gaining experience
• Allows for installer mobility as the market moves from state to state
• Allows installers to distinguish their skills and experience in the field

For consumers:

• Provides a means to identify qualified installers, promoting confidence in the work performed
• Preserves consumer choice, maintaining access to both certified and uncertified installers

We couldn’t agree more, NABCEP. But right now, while this voluntary certification is great to have and does help with quality-control issues, it does not always mean the holder is certified to actually install solar panels in a certain state. This is relevant to solar incentives: most state rebates, tax credits, and other incentives are contingent upon the work being performed by a properly certified installer. This also touches on a serious concern for the future of the solar industry, which is the standardization of training certification. All the benefits of certification NABCEP extolls are true–so is it a good idea to let the only national standard for solar installers be voluntary? But like teacher training, perhaps the needs of individual states are different enough to warrant 50 unique sets of rules for solar training. Let us know what you think, it’s a topic open to wide debate.

So where does one go to get solar training now? Many universities and technical institutes offer training courses, so check your local schools. Some of these are designed for the layperson as a “first step”, and others are designed for the person with a foundation in electrical knowledge so that by the end of the course, you know how to perform an actual solar installation. Short, intensive training sessions–”solar boot camps”–are offered by a handful of sources around the country.

• Solar Energy International (SEI): educating about solar for nearly 20 years, SEI offers both online and hands-on workshops.
• Florida Solar Energy Center: one of the best solar resources on the Eastern seaboard, FSEC offers photovoltaics and solar hot water installation courses
• Solar Living Institute: this Northern California non-profit offers numerous live and online workshops for all aspects of solar
• Boots on the Roof: NABCEP certified, these guys offer 4-6 day courses for sales people and installers

There are other training resources (ask Google), but these are a few of the more established ones–SEI is premier among them. If you’re curious about where exactly you could get hired, or where the green job hot-spots are in this country, check out the solar jobs map from SEIA.

And when it’s up and running, pay a visit to the educational center planned for Rutland, Vermont: the state’s second-largest solar array (50kw) will be part of a “working classroom for students interested in renewable energy”–and will be partly student-built.