Something totally new is happened in solar education! Boots on the Roof just taught our first Commercial Solar installation MEGALAB!  Students loved it! What’s a MEGALAB?  We have run hundreds of solar courses by now, and even though our students love our courses, we always have students that want even more time building in the lab. This new class is just for that! It’s an almost entirely hands-on lab course! 

Because the fastest growing segment of the solar market is commercial-scale solar, (roof-top PV systems of about 100 KW or so) we stuffed this course with equipment intended primarily for commercial scale projects.  Students got to build with many different kinds of commercial racking systems, with different kinds of panels, commercial scale inverters, and even monitoring equipment! And there is even more commercial-scale equipment on trucks headed this way right now, so our next Commercial Solar PV Construction Megalab, February 20^th -24^th  will have even more awesome solar toys to learn with.

If your job entails planning, estimating or managing the installation of commercial PV systems, this is a great course for getting hands-on experience with a variety of solutions in a short period of time.   Those of you already in commercial PV know that correctly estimating time and labor costs for a big installations can be the difference between profit and loss, so what better way to learn about the “nuts and bolts” of big solar systems, than to get your hands-on the very same nuts and bolts, from a variety of manufacturers!

Boots Launches Commercial Solar MegaLab Training! is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Last week we featured REFUsol‘s super snazzy high efficiency solar transformerless inverters technology in our Commercial Solar PV Construction Mega Lab. Commercial solar is currently the fastest growing segment of the solar industry. To keep up with the current staffing demands of this expanding and rapidly transforming industry, we here at Boots work hard to keep our curriculum filled with the most current and high quality technology.

We are happy to be teaching our students on some of the best technology in the industry. REFUsol has been in the inverter industry since the 1960s, when they began building inverters for drive systems and energy converters for trains. They have now grown to become one of the top manufacturers in the world delivering 3-phase string and central PV inverters.

Students learning about REFUsol‘s transformerless
inverter technology.

REFUsol’s Inverter Technology meets Boots is a post from: Boots On The Roof

We just received a new Legrand Delta Strut racking system for our Mega Lab! This one of a kind system is brilliantly designed to integrate both support framing needs and cable management in one system. Legrand has been providing their wire mesh cable tray system for cable management on bigger projects, so it’s an evolutionary step to blend the cable management and racking into a single structural element.

We are thrilled to add hands-on construction labs with this unique racking system to our Commercial Solar PV Construction class because it’s is a great option for large scale commercial projects. This racking system is innovative because of it’s open structure design, which incorporates the cable pathway close to the panels for protection against wind, direct sunlight and extreme weather conditions. We are excited to share Legrand’s Delta Strut racking system with our students. Viva Legrand!

Boots on the Roof Partners with Legrand is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Unirac! Wow these guys are tough! Not only are they tough… they are fast too. Boots on the Roof is excited to announce our partnership with Unirac, and the addition of their ISYS Ground Mount  to our Mega Lab! Lots of our students have requested training on larger ground mounts, which is one reason we are happy to be incorporating this system into our classes. This system is said to be one of the fastest systems to install with the least amount of labor. Unirac claims an installation time of more than 10 modules per man-hour, making it a great option to teach our commercial students!

Boots on the Roof rings in the new year with a new Partnership is a post from: Boots On The Roof

We like it because once the fames are up, the panels drop into place with no tools needed!

 We’re excited to have Creotecc in our new Commercial Construction Lab!

What’s Creotecc?  It’s a very innovative solar racking system, where standard solar panels just “drop in” to the frame with no tools needed.  You need to hold the panel in your hand and place it in the frame yourself to really get how cool this system is.  We need to thank our friends at Session Solar for hooking us up with Creotecc.  Session Solar works with their parent company in Germany to bring these innovative products to the US solar market, and we are delighted to add this racking system to our lab environment.

This is exactly the kind of innovative, UL listed solutions that Boots seeks out for our Commercial Solar classes.

Want a chance to get “hands on” with Creotecc, and other innovative solar racking systems? 

We’ve created Commercial Solar PV Construction – MegaLab to give PV Construction Professionals an opportunity to work with Creotecc, and other innovative commercial racking systems.

If you are planning to expand into Commercial Rooftop Solar in 2012, we’d like to talk with you about how our new courses may support your plans.

 BTW – need to put a smile in your day? – check out the video for Session Solar’s cool new song!

Boots receives a great new CreoTecc racking system is a post from: Boots On The Roof

We are excited to announce our new partnership with eIQ Energy of San Jose! This Silicon Valley company is revolutionizing the industry with their parallel solar technology, featuring the vBoost DC to DC converter module, designed to make solar energy systems more efficient and affordable. 

Boots on the Roof is committed to teaching our students using the most innovative products available.  We are adding 12 vBoost modules to our 8,000 square foot solar training facility. Training on this new equipment will be featured in our Commercial Construction MegaLab PV 270 staring in January, and will also be added to the Parallel Solar Design Exercises of our Commercial PV design course as well. We are impressed with eIQ’s vBoost modules used in the megawatt scale project for Granite construction, and are excited to integrate this technology into our curriculum.  

Thank you eIQ Energy for your generous contribution to our training facility and in partnering with us to help provide most up to date solar training in the industry!

Boots on the Roof partners with eIQ Energy is a post from: Boots On The Roof

The good people at Solarbuzz report that  Q4’11 installations will be about 800 Mega Watts  of PV capacity in North America.

Solarzuzz also reports:

In Q4’11, ground-mount installations are forecast to have 38% of the market, followed by building-mount, non-residential systems (>100 kW), which will have 37% of the market. The ground-mount segment benefited from demand from Ontario and from large-scale installations in California and Arizona geared toward meeting the state RPS requirements.

If our solar-powered calculator is correct – that means about 300 megawatts of roof-top, commercial PV installations in just this quarter!

Boots on the Roof is running not one, but THREE new courses to support the growing volume of commercial projects:

• Commercial Solar, Business and Sales
• Commercial Solar PV Construction – MegaLab
• Commercial PV Design

If you are planning to expand into Commercial Rooftop Solar in 2012, we’d like to talk with you about how our new courses may support your plans.

For more on the Solarbuzz report, please click here

300 megawatts of roof-top, commercial PV installations to be installed in North America in just this quarter! is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Unemployment and underemployment are higher than we have seen them in decades. Jobs growth throughout the U.S. is continuing at a much lower rate than many had hoped, with just 80,000 jobs being added in the last month. However, there is one industry that has continually stayed strong throughout the crisis, and now expects as much as a 26% growth in workforce over the coming year. That industry is solar power. The solar industry is booming and, as a result, hiring.

The main reason solar power has managed to grow even in this bad economy is because the public wants to save money and are continually looking for alternative sources of energy. For years people have wanted solar panels on their roofs. With more cost effective developments being made in the area of solar power on a daily basis more people can afford to install solar panels than ever before. As a result many people are choosing to do so even in this bad economy because the price is right and it will save them money in the long term.

Perhaps even more importantly, people have seen, in the last few years, how dangerous and unaccountable large energy companies that rely on gas, nuclear, and oil can be. We had the BP spill, the Fukushima disaster, and many smaller headline disasters that not everyone heard about. Due to this growing skepticism with the conventional ways of producing electricity, solar panel use has increased and gained large amounts of public support.

In fact, the solar industry is doing so well that the major problem they are facing is a lack of expertise in their job applicant pool. The industry is expanding at such a rate that they can no longer hire people with previous experience in the field because there are none. Now, when hiring technicians for installs and other jobs within the industry they must look to similar fields which can have crossover skills.

So, what lesson do we take from all this? The solar industry is booming and if you have solar training in the field you will be far more likely to find a job.

Solar Industry Has Jobs! is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Everyone wants a solar plant that can generate power 24/7, in fact some consider the ability to generate solar power at night the Holy Grail. Well, time to drink of the healing water because a Spanish solar plant has found a way to make a solar plant generate power throughout the night – using energy storage.

The massive solar plant takes up 457 acres of beautiful Spanish countryside. However, it puts these acres to good use placing large mirrors in circles around a central tower at which they can direct their sunlight.

The development of the project was done Torresol Energy – a joint project done by the energy companies Sener and Masdar. The technology is different from many other focused solar thermal plants. Instead of heating and burning oil the Gemsolar plant heats molten salt. As the salt heats up it gives off steam that is then used to power a turbine. The brilliant part about the design is that the intense amount of heat directed to the molten salt will create a lot of excess heat which can then be stored in a molten salt tank to be used for power during the night – or when the weather gets cloudy.

Due to the fact that no fuel is burned, the solar plant will likely save close to 30,000 in carbon emissions each year. It will do this while producing close to 20 megawatts of energy and providing 27,500 households in Southern Spain with clean solar power.

Perhaps the most exciting part about this is that the technology will likely come to the United State sand other major countries soon. I should have more information on the specifics in the coming days or weeks.

The new mass solar plant designs are innovative, but not a replacement for the older rooftop solar panels. All these are necessary to power our society. Any new form of clean energy must be welcomed into the fold. Let us hope this new tower rises over countryside’s everywhere soon.

New Solar Tower Generates Power 24/7 is a post from: Boots On The Roof

GE is jumping into to the solar power game in a major way. The energy giant has recently invested a staggering $600 million into the solar side of its business. This money will go towards building a massive ‘thin film’ solar panel manufacturing plant based out of Aurora, Colorado. The facility will have the ability to produce enough panels each year to power 80,000 homes.

Just like GE’s big march into the wind energy market earlier this year their participation in the solar market will create jobs – approximately 355 in Colorado to be exact plus others throughout the country – and the boost in competition will bring down solar prices across the board.  Solar prices have already been on a steady decline as new less expensive ways are found to create solar panels, with added competition this will only help matters. The market leader in thin film solar, against which GE’s involvement will be measured, is First Solar. However, there are many other thin film solar companies that will be forced to compete with the energy giant as well – such as Abound Solar.

GE has stated that the plant will be finished in early 2012, with the first panels being made very shortly after it is opened. These panels will begin to come available in quarter one 2013, once a sufficient supply has been built up to meet the potential demand of the market. GE has also stated that it plans to beat the competition through making their panels both larger and lighter. By doing this they will be able to continue to be competitive in utility-scale projects, but they will also be able to break into the commercial solar market. GE also points to their ability to develop technologies faster and more efficiently due to their investments in research on a much broader scale than solar only firms – they have already shown this by implementing advancements in the medical field into the creation of their panels.

A major company’s involvement in the solar market will lead to a continued effort to constantly lower solar prices by all parties involved. With prices already dropping this can be taken as a sign of solar power’s continued sustainability.

GE Makes Major Investments in Solar Power! is a post from: Boots On The Roof