NABCEP?

[eeprom]

Does anyone know anything about NABCEP? It seems that there are quite a few public bids out there which require NABCEP certification for doing any type of PV installation. And NABCEP states that it requires 2 years PV experience in order that a person would even be eligible for certification. This effectively closes the PV industry to new players. Does anyone know anything about this? Are these guys a government agency? Can a "public" bid be limited to people belonging to a single organization?

thanks

 

[BigInch]

From what I've seen, control of solar system design and installation is a good thing. In Spain installers must demonstrate minimum qualification and be registered with the provincial governments in order to be eligible to install any government subsidized project. Not an association per say, but still a limited group.

Solar installations are certainly not large electrical generator stations, but then again you wouldn't want any 600 VAC components installed in a 600 VDC circuit. And, if you are talking about a larger installation, on a flat roof in a rainy area, with trackers and SCADA system, IMO its not exactly territory you want to have newbies walking around in. Experience is one of the better qualifiers and I wouldn't want an inexperienced contractor on any of my projects, solar, oil & gas, or bathroom tiles. It just sounds like NABCEP finally realized that too. Perhaps you are trying to hard to politicize this???

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"Pumping accounts for 20% of the world’s energy used by electric motors and 25-50% of the total electrical energy usage in certain industrial facilities."-DOE statistic (Note: Make that 99% for pipeline companies)

http://virtualpipeline.spaces.live.com/

 

[eeprom]

Maybe we are not talking about the same subject. Should registration be made available to anyone who can demonstrate competency? Or should be limit registration to only include people who have already demonstrated competency?

There is no debate here about whether or not people should be registered or not.

 

[mauricestoker]

The federal government has a minimum requirement for two or more bids in order to satisfy competition requirements; if less, than a sole source justification would normally be required. If more than two responsive and responsible bids were received, it would be hard to argue that competition was precluded.

People I work with go the opposite direction and I have to justify any limitation of competition. It's more work, but I prefer it that way because competition improves acquisition pricing and quality, and the money comes out of all our pockets, nothing is free.

 

[BigInch]

Registration would normally imply some degree of competency has been meet, if the registration procedure means anything at all. So supposedly yes, otherwise the registration process is flawed, not the bid process.

What normally interests me is demonstrating the feasibility of a potential project and in that effort reducing risk, any risk, even the smallest risk, is essential. The best way I know to reduce demonstrable risk is by finding a design-builder that has already constructed one that works. If you chose another route, you'll need a lot of good luck getting financing, so while you're at it be sure you also find a kind of foolish owner, one with more money than brains. Ringling's Law says they exist, but I haven't seen it work with my projects.

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"Pumping accounts for 20% of the world’s energy used by electric motors and 25-50% of the total electrical energy usage in certain industrial facilities."-DOE statistic (Note: Make that 99% for pipeline companies)

http://virtualpipeline.spaces.live.com/

 

[IRstuff]

Your previous example of a PE is relevant. You cannot be a PE until you've worked x years as an EIT, so, one could likewise argue that NSPE is overly limiting the number of PEs.

Tests, by their very nature are finite in scope. And, as with the EIT exams, study guides can usually get you to pass the exam. However, as with PEs, it's recognized that a written exam doesn't really exercise the experience factor. There are just too many things that aren't covered by exams, and require the direct observation of a surpervising engineer to determine fitness for full licensure.


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