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Clean Energy Project Manager, Stanion Wholesale Electric Co.
How to become a solar installer?
There are multiple paths to becoming a solar photovoltaic (PV) installer, or PV installer. These workers typically need a high school diploma, but some take courses at a technical school or community college; they also receive on-the-job training lasting up to 1 year. Some PV installers learn to install panels as part of an apprenticeship.
What solar system size works for my business or home?
The system cost of solar PV can vary by energy profile and budget. Hard costs like material and labor are typically assessed in cost per rated watt. Solar modules and inverters are also rated and priced by wattage. For consistency, solar is sized by the DC rated capacity of the array. Local net metering interconnection standards will often set a maximum system size by utility customer class, i.e. 15kW residential, 100kW commercial for Kansas Investor Owned Utilities, 200kW commercial and 25kW residential for some municipal utilities and cooperatives.
Early 2018, Stanion’s Kansas City branch moved to their current location. It was the largest facility of the 17 Stanion branches and it was intended to be a central hub to support Stanion’s growing Kansas City market. Corporate leadership inquired about supplementing their energy use with rooftop solar, but it wasn’t until 2019 when they better understood the facility energy demands that they request an evaluation of the potential for solar.
