Solar Academy: Ontario's Premier Solar Training School
Ontario Solar Academy's "Solar Professional Certificate: Level One"
Ontario Solar Academy certification is intended as a benefit for both solar installers and consumers by promoting high industry standards of knowledge, skill, ethics and safety training. OSA’s certification program serves to advance a culture of quality and integrity for the professionals and consumers it is designed to serve.
- For installers, certification serves to (a) identify installers as professionals, instilling consumer confidence, (b) enable installers to distinguish their knowledge, skills and safety preparedness, and (c) validate resources spent on training.
- For consumers, certification serves to (a) provide a means to identify qualified installers, promoting confidence in the work performed, and (b) preserve consumer choice, maintaining access to both certified and uncertified installers.
Disclaimer Statement
OSA certification is not a professional license issued by a government agency, and does not authorize a certificant to practice. Further, OSA certification is not a requirement to work in the solar industry. OSA certificants must comply with all legal requirements related to practice, including licensing laws.
NABCEP's "Entry Level PV Exam" and "Solar PV Installer Certification"
OSA's 5-Day PV Design & Installation Course prepares participants for taking the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) Entry Level PV Exam, and we encourage all of our students to take this entry level test as a step towards (but not a requirement for) becoming a NABCEP Certified PV Installer™, the highest certification available in the industry to date. On requirements for becoming a NABCEP Certified PV Installer™, click here.
While there are now approximately 1,000 NABCEP Certified PV Installers, there are only 2 in all of Ontario! World-wide, over 4,500 individuals have passed NABCEP's Entry Level PV Exam. While NABCEP has registered over 150 Entry Level PV Exam Providers, there are currently none in Canada. Ontario Solar Academy is in the process of becoming a registered provider to enable our students to take the exam.
NABCEP encourages students who complete an intensive course like OSA’s 5-Day Course, to spend 2-3 additional hours outside of class for each hour in class prior to taking the Entry Level Exam, to “review the subject matter, solve problems, and study reference materials.” OSA is in the process of developing an online review course with a registered provider that will enable our students to take the NABCEP Entry Level Exam within 30 days of completing OSA’s 5-Day Course. This will require students to return to our center in Toronto (or another location authorized to invigilate the exam) at their own expense and to pay the Exam Fees (generally ranging from $75-$150).
We encourage all students, or potential students, to review NABCEP’s policies at www.nabcep.org. In sum, NABCEP issues a suitable-for-framing “Passing Score Achievement” document to all successful test takers. This document is a way for recipients to “demonstrate that they have achieved a basic knowledge of the fundamental principles of the application, design, installation and operation of grid-tied and stand-alone PV Systems.” The knowledge demonstrated by passing this test does not replace the knowledge, skills or abilities of the electrical or other construction trades, or those of other professions or degree programs that require considerably more academic and/or practical experience.
Individuals passing the NABCEP PV Entry Level Exam should not be confused with NABCEP Certified PV Installers. The latter can only be achieved by highly experienced individuals who have passed a much more rigorous examination and have demonstrated the capability to supervise complete PV system installations, and who have a detailed working knowledge of the electrical codes, standards and accepted industry practice associated with PV installations.
As of January 2010, NABCEP's Passing Score Achievement Document is no longer referred to as NABCEP’s Entry Level “Certificate of Knowledge” and NABCEP requires all candidates who take the PV Entry Level Exam to sign a Disclaimer that acknowledges that they understand that achieving a passing score on the Exam does not make them a NABCEP Certified PV Installer™.
Passing this exam, however, testifies to a practitioner's basic knowledge, comprehension and application of key terms and concepts of photovoltaic (solar electric) system operations suitable for a supervised, entry level position with a dealer and/or installer or other PV industry company.
For more information, visit NABCEP's website www.nabcep.org
While there are now approximately 1,000 NABCEP Certified PV Installers, there are only 2 in all of Ontario! World-wide, over 4,500 individuals have passed NABCEP's Entry Level PV Exam. While NABCEP has registered over 150 Entry Level PV Exam Providers, there are currently none in Canada. Ontario Solar Academy is in the process of becoming a registered provider to enable our students to take the exam.
NABCEP encourages students who complete an intensive course like OSA’s 5-Day Course, to spend 2-3 additional hours outside of class for each hour in class prior to taking the Entry Level Exam, to “review the subject matter, solve problems, and study reference materials.” OSA is in the process of developing an online review course with a registered provider that will enable our students to take the NABCEP Entry Level Exam within 30 days of completing OSA’s 5-Day Course. This will require students to return to our center in Toronto (or another location authorized to invigilate the exam) at their own expense and to pay the Exam Fees (generally ranging from $75-$150).
We encourage all students, or potential students, to review NABCEP’s policies at www.nabcep.org. In sum, NABCEP issues a suitable-for-framing “Passing Score Achievement” document to all successful test takers. This document is a way for recipients to “demonstrate that they have achieved a basic knowledge of the fundamental principles of the application, design, installation and operation of grid-tied and stand-alone PV Systems.” The knowledge demonstrated by passing this test does not replace the knowledge, skills or abilities of the electrical or other construction trades, or those of other professions or degree programs that require considerably more academic and/or practical experience.
Individuals passing the NABCEP PV Entry Level Exam should not be confused with NABCEP Certified PV Installers. The latter can only be achieved by highly experienced individuals who have passed a much more rigorous examination and have demonstrated the capability to supervise complete PV system installations, and who have a detailed working knowledge of the electrical codes, standards and accepted industry practice associated with PV installations.
As of January 2010, NABCEP's Passing Score Achievement Document is no longer referred to as NABCEP’s Entry Level “Certificate of Knowledge” and NABCEP requires all candidates who take the PV Entry Level Exam to sign a Disclaimer that acknowledges that they understand that achieving a passing score on the Exam does not make them a NABCEP Certified PV Installer™.
Passing this exam, however, testifies to a practitioner's basic knowledge, comprehension and application of key terms and concepts of photovoltaic (solar electric) system operations suitable for a supervised, entry level position with a dealer and/or installer or other PV industry company.
For more information, visit NABCEP's website www.nabcep.org
NABCEP PV Entry Level Learning Objectives
OSA's 5-Day PV Design & Installation Course is based on a set of learning objectives developed by a NABCEP Committee of PV subject matter experts (SME) for the NABCEP PV Entry Level Program. The skills identified in this analysis do not replace electrical trades, technician, technologist or engineering training.
The Learning Objectives include ten (10) skill sets:
About NABCEP
The North American Board for Certified Energy Practitioners, Inc. (NABCEP) is a national voluntary, non-profit, professional credentialing organization lead by industry stakeholders. NABCEP certifies qualified practitioners in the fields of renewable and sustainable energy, and energy efficiency technologies, who have met the professional knowledge standards established by NABCEP. The purpose and goal of NABCEP is to assess and measure objectively the professional knowledge of renewable energy industry practitioners, and to promote the advancement of the renewable energy industry. NABCEP is dedicated to the implementation of appropriate professional standards designed to protect consumers and the profession.
The Learning Objectives include ten (10) skill sets:
- 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
About NABCEP
The North American Board for Certified Energy Practitioners, Inc. (NABCEP) is a national voluntary, non-profit, professional credentialing organization lead by industry stakeholders. NABCEP certifies qualified practitioners in the fields of renewable and sustainable energy, and energy efficiency technologies, who have met the professional knowledge standards established by NABCEP. The purpose and goal of NABCEP is to assess and measure objectively the professional knowledge of renewable energy industry practitioners, and to promote the advancement of the renewable energy industry. NABCEP is dedicated to the implementation of appropriate professional standards designed to protect consumers and the profession.
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