Learn PV to Power Up Your Career

Quickly and easily train to become a PV installer or solar sales representative. Start a new career in solar installations or expand your existing HVAC or electrical business to residential and small commercial PV systems. Learn how to design, site, and size the right solar electric system for your customer.

Power up your career: stake a claim as your market’s foremost authority on solar photovoltaic systems.

It’s no secret that the construction market and building trades have suffered these past years. But one huge exception is in renewable energy, and solar is lighting the way. Solar photovoltaic installations have grown an average of 40% a year for the last five years, even while US housing starts slowed to the lowest levels since the 1950s.

The solar industry grew by 67% in 2010, and is on track for an even better 2011, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association of America (SEIA), the leading solar association. Their annual PV report was cited by major newspapers and a variety of renewable energy news outlets in March 2011. USA Today says,

NABCEP PV Entry Level Exam Provider

Solar Photovoltaic Installers Needed

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the American solar industry (including solar manufacturing, solar sales and PV installations) now employs 9200 more solar workers than the US steel production sector. Almost one half million – 440,000 – new solar jobs will be needed by 2015, just to keep up with demand, according to a report from 2008, and we’ve already outstripped that goal.

A report on Careers in Solar Power by the BLS states that:

"Solar photovoltaic installers typically have a background in construction or as electricians. There is no formal training standard for installers…. Training programs vary widely and can range from 1 day to several weeks. Many solar installers are licensed as general contractors and many are licensed by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)."

In states with high electric utility prices and strong PV incentives, solar is thriving. Incentives and rebates created a solar electric market that is beginning to flourish on its own. Demand is driving module and inverter prices down all over the country; solar PV modules have dropped from $8 a watt to less than $2 a watt in under five years. Contractors who are PV installers and solar PV dealers are staying busy. And it’s not just in the sunny southwest: New Jersey has the second strongest solar PV rebate and incentive programs in the US.

Specialized PV Courses

Solar Seminars offers photovoltaic installation classes for newcomers to this remarkable industry - PV 101, an entry level solar course that is based directly on NABCEP’s solar PV training objectives. It’s available as either an online or in person solar class.

We also offer a specialized PV course for HVAC and electrical professionals. We assume prior electrical knowledge, and focus instead on solar electric system basics including design, sizing and estimating consumption. We also spend one full day on sales. For details, keep reading how to convert HVAC to PV.

Both PV 101 and HVAC to PV require two days of hands on PV system installation practice, which we offer both at our main classroom in Bakersfield, California as well as around the state and in Las Vegas, Nevada. We have a unique, mobile PV installation lab that enables students to have hands one experience building three full solar PV systems.

If you're just looking for the theoretical knowledge of how to best use solar and integrate PV systems to advance your own knowledge or career, our Online Only course is perfect for you: we offer one of the best online courses in the industry with full access to instructors, other students in forums, and our extensive references. This Online Only course requires no hands on, though you are welcome to upgrade to PV 101 for that experience if you wish. Students who successfully complete the Online Only course can also sit for the NABCEP exam.

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