Our PV 101 seminar takes the ten objectives required by NABCEP and builds on them with our own years of practical business and installation experience. We combine theory and hands-on installation labs to bring installations to life for our students.
NABCEP requires:
- PV Markets and Applications
- Safety Basics
- Electricity Basics
- Solar Energy Fundamentals
- PV Module Fundamentals
- System Components
- PV System sizing Principles
- PV System Electrical Design
- PV System Mechanical Design
- Performance Analysis, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting.
Solar Seminars covers all this and more in two separate formats. Students have the option of choosing either a Traditional, five day intensive course, or a Blended course that combines the best of online learning with two days of hands on installation practice.
The seminar content is the same for both forms of the PV 101 course. Expand the following section to show details of the course outline:
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Basic Electricity and Solar Fundamentals
- Types of solar applications
- How solar electricity works
- Components of a grid-tied system
- Basic electricity theory
- Solar energy production
- Application of electric theory to solar photovoltaics
Site Assessment for Solar Systems
- Site assessment requirements
- Determination of azimuth and tilt
- Basic shade analysis methods
Determining Electric Use
- Effect of PV on electric use
- How the grid operates
- Reading electric bills
- Determining use from past bills
- Estimating use
- Estimating the required size of a PV system
System Design
- Introduction to inverters
- Array configurations for string inverters
- Array configurations for micro-inverters
- Array layout
- Balance of System layout and configuration
- Application of key components of the NEC
- Creating system diagrams
Hands-on System Installations
- Safety
- Installation of a ground mount PV system
- Wiring a string inverter
- Wiring micro-inverters
- Mounting methods on different roof surfaces
Our emphasis is on residential grid-tied, systems, the most common kind installed. We include hands on experience on both ground-height training roofs and with stand-alone solar array mount systems. Each student will install a total of three separate PV systems, including modules and inverters.
Completing this course and receiving our Certificate of Completion will prepare you to be hired into an entry level role in professional solar electric installations. This course will also qualify successful students to take NABCEP's entry level PV exam at a national testing center.
There is no prerequisite coursework for PV 101. No solar industry experience is required. Students must have basic math skills including calculator proficiency and an understanding of basic math. It is helpful, but not necessary, if students are comfortable with the use of formulas and basic algebra. Students should have comfort with internet navigation and research, skill with basic hand tools, good problem solving ability, and good social skills.
Please continue to descriptions of our Traditional and Blended seminars to see which learning format best suits your needs.
We also offer an extensive online PV Fundamentals course for those who want to learn the concepts behind solar PV Design and Installations without the hands-on, or before they decide if they will want to do the hands-on courses.