Four more Standard Solar staff members passed the NABCEP Solar PV Installer examination and have been certified by the organization – congratulations to Gary Brown, Vidyadhar Rangojoo, Jobin Michael and Richard Gilker for their hard work and achievement!

Pictured: Jobin Michael and Vidyadhar Rangojoo

NABCEP is the national certification organization for professional installers in the field of renewable energy. It provides educational resources and standards of practice to its members and promotes consumer confidence. The NABCEP PV Installer Certification exam is a rigorous, 4-hour test which assesses knowledge of PV electrical system components, design, project management and troubleshooting. Although the certification is not required to work in the PV industry, it is certainly a hallmark of a high level of proficiency.

Standard Solar encourages and supports our staff members who strive for certification, and we applaud the efforts of these most recent additions to the NABCEP community.

Congratulations to Standard Solar’s Andrew Truitt for being named to the Board of Directors of NABCEP!

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP – www.nabcep.org) is the only nationally recognized certifying agency for solar professionals. Andrew and 5 other Standard Solar professionals are among the elite few in the Mid-Atlantic region holding NABCEP certifications and are among the 1,196 NABCEP certified professionals nationwide. 

A February 2009 conversation between Andrew and NABCEP can be read at http://www.nabcep.org/news/a-conversation-with-andrew-truitt-standard-solar. 

Congrats again, Andrew!

Standard Solar's Andrew Truitt during the VoteSolar.org "Extend the Solar Investment Tax Credit " march on Washington, DC on 9/8/08.

For Immediate Release
Four Standard Solar Employees Receive Industry’s Installer Certification

The number of certified photovoltaic installers at Standard Solar now totals six

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 23 – Affirming the company’s growing commitment to leading-by-example the growth of solar energy throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, four Standard Solar employees have been certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, or NABCEP, bringing to six the number of certified photovoltaic (PV) solar installers on staff.

“We are proud to employ each of these six individuals, each of whom personifies how we are helping expand solar energy solutions in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia,” said Standard Solar President Scott Wiater. “Homeowners, businesses, colleges and government agencies who choose Standard Solar should know that no company brings as much bench strength thereby ensuring they receive the maximum return on their solar investment backed by the very best in customer service.”

Participating in the September 12 administration of the NABCEP Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Installer Exam and now certified are:

• Nick Abrash,
• C.J. Colavito,
• Matt Griffiths, and
• Nathan Stumpff.

They join Chief Technology Officer Lee Bristol, the company’s first employee, and Director of Residential Construction and Engineering Andrew Truitt, as certified by NABCEP. Together, they are six of the 1,048 individuals who hold this professional distinction throughout the U.S.

“The number of Certified Solar Installers has risen by 38% in the last year – over 22% just in this round of exams,” NABCEP Chairman Don Warfield stated recently in a press release. “These numbers reflect our industry’s appetite for experienced and well-trained solar professionals who have completed a rigorous application and examination process.”

Nick Abrash is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University who studied graphic arts and worked in publishing before studying to become a journeyman electrician in the Fairfax, Virginia adult education program. Since joining Standard Solar in 2007, he has helped install more than 100 residential and small commercial solar systems.

C.J. Colavito joined the company upon completing a year of volunteer work in Nicaragua where he worked on renewable energy applications in rural communities. C.J. obtained his mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech, and as if his NABCEP certification is not enough, C.J. is also pursing a Master’s of Engineering degree in Sustainable Energy from the University of Maryland at College Park. You can read about C.J.’s work to develop sustainable communities in rural Nicaragua in the Spring / Summer 2009 issue of the company’s newsletter, The Solar Standard.

Matt Griffiths is a graduate of the University of Vermont where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He is one of Standard Solar’s first five employees and helped install the system for the company’s first customer. Since then, he has logged more than 200 residential installations and has earned a variety of other certifications.

Nathan Stumpff is a graduate of Brown University, holds a Masters degree in classical composition from the Manhattan School of Music, and was a Fulbright Fellow in Reykjavík, Iceland. He has worked in many facets of the construction industry from light electrical to plumbing to roofing and this month is working with C.J. Colavito in completing a 293 kilowatt solar system for the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. (See accompanying photo.)

About Standard Solar
Standard Solar is a full-service developer, integrator and installer of solar electric systems for academic, commercial, government and residential customers throughout Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. It serves more than 500 customers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and has created more than 50 green jobs since the summer 2008. For more information, visit http://www.standardsolar.com/.

Two of Standard Solar’s six NABCEP-certified installers – C. J. Colavito (left) and Nathan Stumpff – complete a solar photovoltaic array atop Flather Hall at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jim Pierobon)