See free and low-cost opportunities to learn more about renewable energy. Most offer professional
development hours for professional engineers. Visit the ASA
Solar Classes and Training Opportunities
page.
Question: What is the one thing every single human being on the planet can do that's considered
green? Whatever the answer is, multiply that by billions of human beings and you create some
noticeable Green results.
Show Mom some Love on Valentine's Day by finding your own little ways to be kinder. What
can you think of to make Mother Earth a little more comfortable today?
What is NABCEP, and why should Alabamians care about it?
Alabama has no requirements for solar installation. Caveat emptor (Let the buyer beware) is especially
applicable in our state. While all Alabama Solar Association Solarites (professional members) are proven
to be highly qualified, NABCEP is a worldwide standard that guarantees that specific solar professional
has the knowledge and experience to design and build a system that will perform well under very specific
conditions found on your site.
NABCEP (www.nabcep.org) is the North American Board of
Certified Energy Practitioners. It is the “gold standard” for PV and solar heating installation
certification. Designed to raise industry standards and promote consumer confidence, NABCEP offers
certification and certificate programs to renewable energy professionals throughout North America and
around the world. when your installer is NABCEP-certified, you can be assured they know what they are
doing.
Certification of a profession refers to a generally voluntary process in which the certifying organization
formally grants recognition to those who meet certain predetermined standards or qualifications. It
usually includes an examination of some kind to assess the candidates’ qualifications. Certification
offers the public a high degree of protection because practitioners have to meet standards or
qualifications and pass an exam, and they do so voluntarily. Developing a certification is a complex and
time-consuming process and requires a strong administrative organization in order to maintain its quality.
Over a thousand certification programs exist in the U.S., qualifying professionals from crane operators to
energy efficiency experts, from financial planners to automobile technicians.
Until the Wright Brothers began the first school of aviation in a cotton field south of Montgomery in
1910, there was no standard certification for pilots. There was no need. There were so few airplanes
aloft, that pilots pretty much learned by trial and error. Today extensive and tough certifications guard
pilots, passengers, and innocents on the ground. I can’t imagine flying with an uncertified pilot unless I
were teaching him or her as part of the certification process.
Voluntary certification programs accomplish three important goals:
They provide a measure of protection to the public by giving them a credential for judging the
competency of practitioners;
They provide practitioners with a way to distinguish themselves from their competition; and
By potentially improving quality, they improve the public perception of the given occupation, helping
increase the industry’s prominence.
The NABCEP process has been developed and designed carefully following professional credentialing
guidelines. Standards, developed by subject matter experts, have been set and the eligibility requirements
are reasonably achievable being based on extensive input from stakeholders and deliberation among
installers. NABCEP has built a transparent, non-discriminatory program implemented with fair procedures
and due process.
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
For years, Daryl Bergquest of Royal was the only NABCEP-certified installer. He is still the only fully
certified PV (photovoltaic) installer here.
Jeff Max of ACME Solar Works
www.acmesolarworks.net in Summerdale became Alabama’s only NABCEP-certified Solar Thermal installer.
Morton Archibald, ASA president and chief engineer of Affordable Energy Solutions
www.getaffordableenergy.com in Huntsville
has earned the NABCEP Entry Level certification. The NABCEP Entry Level Exam is a way for candidates to
demonstrate that they have achieved a basic knowledge of the fundamental principles of the application,
design, installation and operation of PV systems. It’s basically a license to learn.
The nest step for Morton is to gain some more experience and then take the NABCEP PV Installer’s exam.
NABCEP Certified PV Installers are highly experienced individuals who have passed a very rigorous
examination and have demonstrated the capability to supervise complete system installations. They must
have a detailed working knowledge of the electrical, standards, and accepted industry practice
associated with PV installations.
Please consider coming to help us this Saturday, October 15th. We meet at Morton’s house at 2117
Rothmore Drive SW in Huntsville at 10:00 AM. Go west off South Memorial Parkway onto Rothmore just north of the
Mountain Gap Road traffic light and directly across from Bojangles Fried Chicken. Go about a half mile, past the
house with a circle drive, and take the first left turn onto Pembrook Drive. My driveway is the first on the left.
Baby Firefly is Born
During the big grid-power outage of April-May 2011, Dad and I set up a couple sets of ASA's solar
panels. We used them to recharge 12V marine batteries we purchased Thursday after the storms.
In an ideal situation, the panels would be permanently mounted to the house in a calculated
orientation that maximizes input from the average position of the sun over a year. In this
temporary setting, I just wanted to be able to move the panels now and then during the day to track
the sun. One idea (pictured above) popped into my mind.
Now this stuff was quickly and temporarily set on my son's wagon. Perhaps in a more functional setup,
the panels would be mounted a little higher up and be adjustable to accommodate various angles of
elevation, and the battery would sit as low in the center of the wagon as possible, perhaps even
recessed in a cutout in the floor of the wagon. The space between the battery and the panels would
provide a small storage area for the controller, a small toolbox, etc. A modified wagon might be a
good way to roll a setup from the car to the final display location at events, minimizing setup and
tear-down times.
It’s not a very big system, but the 45-watt output will power a few CFL or LED light fixtures,
recharge small appliance batteries, and even run a small refrigerator.
Let’s renew our efforts to complete Firefly into a working solar power generating station. It sure
would have been helpful after the April 27th storm or other storms yet to come. Folks
on the Gulf Coast would have loved to have had some solar trailers after Katrina.
Steve Archibald
Information Director
Please help Firefly!
The Alabama Solar Association is converting your ASA display trailer into a
functioning portable photovoltaic system.
We will use the rebuilt trailer for demonstration purposes, for power at outdoor
events, and for emergency power when needed. We will have a top array of 4’ x 8’
and possibly a side array of 3’ x 8’. Both arrays will to take best advantage of
the sun any time of year.
We have tentatively named the trailer “Firefly.” Like those delightful creatures that
brighten Alabama skies on summer nights, “Firefly” will generate its own power albeit
small. We need a snappy name, such as the New Mexico Solar Society’s “Sun Catcher.”
Please suggest names you feel might be appropriate for this and future generations of
solar trailers—we plan two more of progressively larger sizes and power.
We currently have nine 15-watt silicon PV panels. These panels will not provide much
100 VAC power. So we need more.
<.P>
Can anyone donate any of these materials?
Solar panels, any size, any capacity, any technology?
Big batteries, preferably deep-cycle such as golf cart or marine?
A charge controller?
One or more inverters?
Two tires, size 5.750-8, new or used and in good condition?
Aluminum bar and angles, new or used, any size?
Plywood, marine or exterior grade, new or used, any size?
Can anybody volunteer to help us work on the trailer?
Saturday, April 9th at Morton’s house?
Saturday, April 16th at the Earth Day celebration at Hayes Nature Preserve on US Hoghway 431?
Thursday, April 21st at Alabama A&M Green Living Expo?
If you would like to help but have neither time nor materials, you can always make
a cash donation. Any amount would help. Just click on the green “Donation” button on
our join or donate web page to use PayPal,
or you can send a check to:
The Alabama Solar Association
PO Box 143
Huntsville, AL 35803-0143
“Firefly” appreciates any help you can give, time, materials, or money.
We want "Firefly" to be an inspiration to school kids and adults alike. Won't
you help us explain the advantages of clean, renewable solar power to the people of Alabama.
With three damaged Japanese nuclear plants leaking and possibly melting down, Americans are naturally
concerned about the safety of nuclear energy. TVA has proposed replacing existing dirty coal-fired
plants with cleaner nuclear reactors (see below). This is a mixed blessing. Nuclear releases less
harmful pollutants into the atmosphere, unless something goes terribly wrong, as it did in Japan.
The International Atomic Energy Agency placed a 19-mile no-fly zone around the damaged plants. The
U.S. Navy Tuesday detected low levels of airborne radiation at Yokosuka and Atsugi bases, 200
miles away from the nuclear plants. Dangerous levels of radiation are still leaking from one
crippled plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors after an explosion
and a fire escalated the crisis spawned by the earthquake and tsunami.
Japanese officials told the IAEA that the reactor fire was in a storage pond and that "radioactivity
is being released directly into the atmosphere." Long after the fire was extinguished, a Japanese
official said the pool, where used nuclear fuel is kept cool, might be boiling.
PV to the rescue!
Workers set up a solar power system for a temporary office building
in the town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, March 31. (Daisuke Uragami AP)
Japanese engineers should consider replacing electricity they were getting from
the disabled nuclear reactor swith photovoltaic-produced electricity the original
nuclear power – solar.
We advocate nuclear power from that star we call “the sun” from 93 million miles away.
The final IRP supports TVA's comprehensive mission of service, which includes meeting the electric
power needs of its customers in a reliable, affordable and sustainable manner. The plan identifies
the resources that will be needed to satisfy expected energy demand in the Tennessee Valley region
over the next 20 years. It is consistent with TVA's Environmental Policy and it supports TVA's renewed
vision to be one of the nation's leading providers of low-cost and cleaner energy by 2020. We still
believe it does not give adequate weight to the potential of rooftop solar to increase renewable energy
contribution and reduce transmission difficulties.
The IRP is intended to equip TVA to meet its customers' needs effectively while addressing the
substantial challenges that face the electric utility industry. The planning direction it recommends
will hopefully give TVA flexibility to make sound choices amid economic and regulatory uncertainty. The
recommended planning direction tries to balance costs, energy efficiency and reliability, environmental
responsibility, and competitive prices for customers. Components of the recommended planning direction
include:
Component
Guideline MW Range
Window of Time
Recommendations
Energy Efficiency and Demand Response (EEDR)
3,600-5,100
(11,400-14,400 GWh)
By 20201
Expand conributions of EEDR in the portfolio
Renewable additions
1,500-2,5002
By 20201
Pursue cost effective renewable energy
Coal-fired capacity idled
2,400-4,7003
By 2017
Consider increasing amount of coal-fired capacity idled
Energy storage
8504
2020 - 2024
Add pumped-storage capacity
Nuclear additions
1,150-5,9005
2013 - 2029
Increase contribution of nuclear generation
Coal additions
0-9006
2025 - 2029
Preserve option of generation with carbon capture
Natural gas additions
900 - 9,3007
2012 - 2029
Utilize natural gas as an intermediate supply source
Note1 – This range includes EEDR savings achieved through 2010. The 2020 range for EEDR and
renewable energy does not preclude further investment in these resources during the following decade.
Note2 – TVA's existing wind contracts that total more than 1,600 MW are included in this
range. Values are nameplate capacity. Net dependable capacity would be lower.
Note3 – TVA has previously announced plans to idle 1,000 MW of coal-fired capacity, which is
included in this range. MW values based on maximum net dependable capacity.
Note4 – This is the expected size of a new pumped-storage hydro facility.
Note5 – The completion of Watts Bar Unit 2 represents the lower end of this range.
Note6 – Up to 900 MW of new coal-fired capacity is recommended between 2025 and 2029.
Note7 – The completion of John Sevier combined cycle plant represents the lower end of this range.
Alabama Solar Association applauds the plan’s proposal to increase efforts on energy efficiency and renewables,
but we question the wisdom and the ability of TVA to meet the timetable for nuclear. We fully support nuclear
power, as long as it coed from that big nuclear power plant 93 million miles away we call the Sun. we will watch
anxiously over the next years as the plan develops. We believe the inevitable spike in energy prices worldwide
will drive more conservation and renewable fuels into the mix.