If you are working on a Do It Yourself solar project, you may think that you can get everything that you need from the internet without any type of formal training and for some people with enough natural ability to look at plans and see what will and what will not work, this may be true. Still, as with any field of study, there are certain things that only experience can teach you. One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of solar energy that is covered in basic Solar PV installer training is the seemingly simple process of handling the Photovoltaic cells. Most of the PV receptors are extremely sensitive and touching them with a bare hand can actually destroy them or at the very least, greatly decrease their efficiency and their ability to produce usable quantities of solar powered electric.

Another commonly overlooked issue with home based do it yourself solar projects is the maintenance of your solar panels. Again, this is a topic that is covered in Basic PV training courses. You cannot just slap your solar panels up on the rooftop and forget about them. To do so would see you quickly moving into the dark … in a very literal manner. Solar panels do have to be maintained. If you leave them exposed to the weather during extreme periods of climate change or storms, your solar panels may be damaged, costing you much more than any basic PV training ever would. If you live in an area where even light debris such as leaves, dust or other natural material may gather on your solar panels, again you are going to have to know how to properly clean and maintain your solar panels.

Even regular electrical systems need maintenance. I would be willing to bet you nickels to dollars that you have probably not had your breaker panel tightened down even though any electrical contractor can tell you that it must be done on a regular basis. Yet many people gladly pay the additional costs on their electrical bills due to lost power simply because they do not know that it has to be maintained, much less how to maintain a buss panel. Basic PV training will teach you all of the rudimentary aspects of PV power production and solar energy technology as it is today. If you decide that you do want to learn more, additional courses in PV training are always available from accredited and licensed solar energy training facilities.

Why? The answer is because wiring a building to run off of solar power requires very different technologies and skill sets than wiring a building to run off of the local electrical power grid.

Using local grid power, regular home construction electricians are used to accessing a constant, regulated, steady flow of electricity from the local power grid. All they have to do is distribute that constant flow of electricity throughout the building via the standard residential electrical wiring network.

Solar power, however, is much more complex. Under solar power systems, electricity comes not from the local power grid, but from the sun. Solar panels in the roof convert sunlight to electricity. Consequently, the flow of electricity is neither regulated nor constant. To overcome this problem, electricity generated by the solar panels is stored in battery banks. The batteries, in turn, provide a regulated, steady flow of electricity to the building. If the batteries are depleted, the home electrical network needs to be able to switch seamlessly back over to the local power grid.

All this, obviously, adds an extra layer of complexity to wiring a building’s electrical network. Any electrician specialized in dealing with it will be in high demand in the solar power industry.

How will I use my Solar Power Training Certification–What Does a Solar Electrician Do?

In addition to wiring a home or building with the usual electrical network, a solar electricians must also set up the solar energy battery banks. This is not as easy as it sounds. The solar electrician must know what type of batteries to use, and how many will be needed. If there is more than one battery (as with all but the most basic solar power system there will be), the solar electrician will need to set up load-balancing equipment to charge and deplete the multiple batteries evenly. The electricity will also need to be converted from DC power to the 120-volt AC power used in the building’s wall outlets.

Solar electricians also need to be also to install instrumentation to measure the charge in the battery banks, and control mechanisms to switch over to local grid power when the battery banks are almost drained. Today, very few homes are capable of being powered entirely by solar energy. Most use a combination of solar and grid power, using the solar power produced merely to reduce their monthly power bill.

How Do I Become a Solar Electrician?

At least an Associate’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field would be the required to qualify as a Solar Electrician. Obviously, a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree you be preferable. If possible, attend a solar school rather than a community college or a vocational school program to get solar panel installation training. Not only will a solar school train you in the specializations needed to work with solar power systems, but you’ll learn more about solar power in general. Both of these will make your degree more attractive for a solar power company, and increase your chances of being hired.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable Energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Solar PV Installation Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

It is important to point out this is an industrial, not residential, construction job.  Being a residential Solar Fabrication Technician (usually referred to as Solar Installer-Roofers) requires a slightly different skill set.  Residential solar fabrication involves a lot of retrofitting solar power systems into existing buildings.  This most commonly involves setting up solar panels on the roof and wiring them into the building’s electrical power grid.  Consequently, residential Solar Fabrication Technicians are a combination of carpenter, roofer, and electrician.  Industrial Solar Fabrication Technicians, in contrast, work more with metal, concrete, and heavy construction equipment.

Being an industrial Solar Fabrication Technician involves a slightly different set of trade skills than residential technicians.  It involves less carpentry and more metalworking.  Furthermore, on an industrial scale, construction positions are more specialized.  Industrial Solar Fabrication Technicians build and erect freestanding solar collectors and can leave the wiring to the electricians.

Solar Fabrication Technicians need to be proficient in working with metal sheeting and tubing, usually steel and copper.  You must be able to cut, bend, file, drill, rivet, weld, and paint metal, using machine shop equipment such as jigsaws and band saws, drill presses, power brakes, pneumatic drills, and rivet guns.

Requirements for Becoming a Solar Fabrication Technician

A Solar Fabrication Technician is one of the careers in the green power segment that doesn’t necessarily require a college degree.  Work experience and training in construction and the trades are more that sufficient.  You’ll need to complete either a vocational school program, or a trade apprenticeship program in an area such as metalworking or pipefitting.  Even if you haven’t completed such a program, enough years of work experience in the trades may be enough to qualify you for a position as a Solar Fabrication Technician.

That being said, an academic degree certainly doesn’t hurt.  In some sun farms, the solar panels are mobile, designed to be able to tilt and rotate to follow the sun across the sky to collect the most direct sunlight.  In such cases, Solar Fabrication Technician positions might require varying degrees of mechanical aptitude as well and trade skills. An Associate’s or even Bachelor’s degree in engineering or material science would certainly increase your chances of landing a Solar Fabrication Technician position at such a sun farm.  It would also help you get promoted to foreman or other supervisory positions.

If you are looking for a job in the green economy, keep in mind that a Solar Fabrication Technician job is mostly a construction position.  If you take pride in your craft, are willing and able to perform sometimes strenuous manual labor, and don’t mind working outdoors in potentially very hot weather (most sun farms are located in California and the Southwestern deserts for obvious reasons), then you’d be a good fit for the Solar Fabrication Technician job.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Alternative Energy Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

With your education, you can earn anywhere from $31,200-$60,000 per year with solar engineers earning as much as $80,000. Now, that’s a good living any way you look at it while you are doing good things for the environment! However, to maximize your education, there are three things you must do.

Get Busy!

The solar sector of the renewable energy industry is one of its fastest growing areas. In fact, the Department of Energy’s Solar America Initiative predicts that solar power shall be a competitive energy source for commercial electricity by 2015! As such, many job opportunities are available for professionals who possess the right kind of qualifications. Therefore, professionals must get busy with acquiring more knowledge and more experience either from getting a solar school education or from the field.

If you cannot secure a job within the solar sector, volunteering in establishments that are solar-friendly can boost your résumé. If you have spare time, learn all you can about the industry through trade journals. If you must, take the low-paying job being offered just because it provides for entry into the solar sector. The point is to get busy expanding your network, your knowledge and your experience. Eventually, you will get noticed by the top honchos of the company and the sector you want to work in.

Get Noticed!

Even when you have attained good performance marks in your solar school education, you still need to get noticed by the solar industry. There are many ways to achieve this goal although you have to put your personal twist on them.

• First, you must attend industry conventions. These are venues where professionals converge to discuss the concerns and directions of the solar industry, which are also often excellent sources for employers to source out prospective employees. At the very least, you can distribute business cards and résumés to the people who matter in the industry.
• Second, you must build a good reputation within the industry. At present, the solar sector is sufficiently small to allow for an atmosphere of almost-everybody-knows-almost-everybody to pervade. As such, good word of mouth advertising as well as official recommendations from former employers and co-workers will provide for more job opportunities.

Again, the point is to get noticed in a positive way. It will not just be your education from a prestigious solar school that matters, but your personal and professional track record will matter, too!

Get Updated!

As usually happens, fast growth means fast obsolescence and fast turnover. As such, the solar industry is always on the lookout for newer, bigger and better technologies and applications.

In turn, the professionals must be constantly updated on these new technologies. It is a challenge that creates new business opportunities. It is fast growth that requires new knowledge. In short, the more you know of the latest in solar technologies and events, the more opportunities you have to maximize your solar school education!

Truly, solar education must be maximized not only for the sake of financial stability and career advancement but because it paves the way for a brighter and cleaner future.
Boots on the Roof is currently enrolling students into its upcoming Solar PV training boot camp. To learn more about dates, locations, and course details,  click here

Most all systems that are installed today will have batteries to store solar power. This allows users to not only get power during the hours the sun is not up but on cloudy days as well. Solar energy systems are increasing in popularity. They are extremely efficient in saving energy as well as better for the environment then other energy sources. Here are some basic solar energy facts:

• Solar energy is one of the best energy sources for our environment
• It can be used to produce electricity through the photovoltaic solar panels to heat water, power heating & air conditioning units and any other electrical needs
• As the used of solar energy panels increases the demand all over the world increases
• Solar energy power is measured with 1 kilowatt equaling 1000 watts
• A 100 watt light bulb utilizes 1 kilowatt per hour
• In 1999 it was estimated that the average American household will use about 866-kilowatt hours per month in 1999 costing them $70.68 with this number being much higher now
• 30% of this usage being to simply heat their homes

There are a variety of solar panel installation courses and training programs available throughout the country.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Solar Thermal Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

One thing to consider is the reputation of the solar school.

• How long as the school been open and what type of certification do they offer?
• What is included in that certification?
• Who is the program recommended by or accredited by?

These are all questions that should be asked prior to signing up for any program.

Most of the time you will find that solar school certification programs travel and many of them are given as conferences. This allows many solar school programs to travel around and help to meet the demand that is growing in the market today. The industry has an amazing demand for qualified technicians and a limited supply. This is why many of the schools have chosen to go this route. It allows for maximum exposure and means that if an area does not yet have a program available but has a demand for certificated solar energy technicians the demand can be met within that area. This saves time and money allowing the industry to expand without stagnating.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Solar Thermal Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

Solar school can provide you with the training you need to start a new career or simply expand an old one. There are a number of aspects to solar energy that needs to be considered. First there is knowledge of the technology.

Technology has changed over the years. Solar panels have evolved over the years and come in a variety of different systems. It is an engineer’s job for example, to determine how many pv solar panels, how large the panels should be and which type of panel should be installed. However, depending on the job description these types of engineers may or may not be installation technicians as well.

Another aspect of solar school is the actual physical installation of the equipment. There are many things to consider when installing solar panels such as the location of the panels. Many homes are not situated in a location that allows for maximum exposure from stationary panels. However, new technology allows flexible solar panels to move with the sun to allow for maximum exposure. These pv solar panels however require yard space, which increases the likelihood of shade. It is these questions that solar school helps train you to answer.

Boots on the Roof is currently enrolling students into its upcoming Solar PV training boot camp. To learn more about dates, locations, and course details,  click here.

Basic solar training classes cover what a photovoltaic (PV) cell really is and how it works. Advanced solar training classes teach things like fundamentals of designing and installing solar power generation and solar hot water systems. This provides the springboard for an entry level position with a dealer or installer or other company in the photovoltaic industry. Students learn the criteria necessary for practical system design, guidelines for installation, safety issues and how to best handle them, maintenance of the different systems and components, and legal issues that might surround the use and installation of solar-based systems.

Training in solar can open up a wide range of opportunities. Solar electric training or solar training classes in fields like residential plumbing will be an asset to any contractor looking to build green or provide green options to those looking to remodel older properties.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Solar PV Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

If we had started utilizing solar energy one hundred years ago, we might not be scrambling to design and use solar heating panels as a cost-effective alternative.

Grid power continues to be cheaper than grid parity, the point where photovoltaic electricity is equal to or less than grid power. Engineers expect grid parity to be equal to grid power by 2015 but only in sunny parts of the United States.

The cost of solar heating panels and solar power lights is more economically feasible with the federal governments promoting financial incentives to further the development. On a small scale, this type of incentive was tried in 2006 by a group of investors that offered free solar panel installation in return for a twenty-five year contract or Power Purchase Agreement, to purchase electricity at a fixed price, set below current electric rates. This is a program for solar heating panels that seems to be working well.

Recently, Berkeley, California, came up with an innovative financing arrangement, adding property assessment, allowing the city to pay for the installed solar electric panels up front. The homeowner then pays a rate equal to the annual electric bill savings, spread over 20 years, allowing free installation. There are numerous programs such as this taking shape in an effort to play catch up for what we failed to see decades of years ago.

Price setting by supply and demand is by far the most popular type of system because of competition. However, because of the volatility of the market and the future value of energy produced, an increased risk of the cost of capital borrowed is seen. Subsidies and feed-in tariffs both point to a financial burden on the consumer that we just cannot carry with the current economical situation.

Producing wholesale solar electric panels may be an option as created by our neighbors in Germany as they have been way ahead of the United States in their manufacturing of solar heating panels. With all of the options that seem to be floating around, solar installator is an excellent career to look into for the future evolution of solar energy. As fossil fuels continue to dissipate, actually any type of education in the solar energy sector will turn into a winner.

Boots on the Roof, a premier Solar Training institute, is offering enrollments in its Solar PV Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

Solar energy is one of the useful and clean sources of energy and is now more used more often than ever before. The problem is that not all people are aware on how often solar energy is used today resulting in a huge demand for people handling solar related tasks. Solar photovoltaic training is vital in bringing solar energy to the mainstream. The following facts support why solar photovoltaic training is very important.

Solar Energy is Becoming used More Often

Solar electric power isn’t a new technology and has been utilized way back in the ancient times. This clean energy source has encountered many limitations in the past and now mobile technology is pushing solar energy forward. Soon mobile phones with solar cells will be introduced where the batteries collect power from the sun to store the energy so they can be used at night as well. There are even DIY guides how to make solar panels of your own to cut electricity costs and lots of homeowners are carrying on with that. Solar training is needed to convince these people that solar energy will soon be one of the top energy choices.

Few People with Solar Energy Knowledge compared to other Energy Sources

Communities can be at a huge disadvantage once solar electric power becomes mainstream and not many people within that community know what to do with it and how to operate the devices that are powered by solar energy. Solar training can solve these problems and encourage people to embrace modern technology and save big on utility costs. This is the best time to get into solar training especially since these utilities are going up in prices. The more people get into solar training, the more people will be convinced to use solar energy as a leading energy source.

Helps Prepare for Future Technologies

Solar technology is still in the growing stage and it will only improve as more solar photovoltaic training is encouraged. There are already some interesting methods on how to combine both solar and wind energy to power homes. As more research and development is put into solar energy, more applications will be made leading to new technologies. Everyone should get into solar training early to get a glimpse of these technologies.

There are so many people looking for other people that are experts in the solar electric power field. After you take your time with solar training you can continue onward with solar related jobs to boost your care and at the same time make a huge contribution to technology advancement.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Solar PV Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.