Certification for Small Wind Turbine Installers: What's the Hang Up?; Preprint
Several programs have been implemented to support the advancement of a professional, mature small wind industry and to ensure that this industry moves forward in a sustainable direction. The development of a standard for small wind turbine systems and the creation of the Small Wind Certification Council support small wind technology that is reliable and safe. Consumers and incentive programs willultimately rely on certification to differentiate among systems sold in the U.S. market. Certification of small wind installers is yet another component deemed necessary for this industry to expand. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, under the guidance and funding support of the U.S. Department of Energy, supported the development of small wind system installer certification provided viathe North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. However, the small wind community is not supportive of the installer certification. There are currently only nine certified installers in the U.S. pool. This paper provides an overview of the installer certification program and why more small wind turbine installers are not pursuing this certification.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1038329
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-5000-54411; TRN: US201208%%427
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at the 2012 World Renewable Energy Forum, 13-17 May 2012, Denver, Colorado
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners Final Report
Testing Small Wind Turbines at NREL's NWTC (Presentation)
Related Subjects
MARKET
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY
WIND TURBINES
CERTIFICATION
INSTALLATION
wind energy
small wind
distributed wind
small wind turbine
distributed wind turbine
wind turbine installer
installer certification
wind turbine installer certification
NABCEP
North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners
wind turbine standards
small wind turbine standards
wind industry professional development