Member News

GROSOLAR and EVERGREEN SOLAR SIGN CONTRACT
Evergreen Solar announced the execution of a contract with fellow SEBANE member groSolar.

SPIRE SOLAR APPOINTS MARTIN STEIN VP OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Martin Stein joins Spire's management team

SUNEDISON APPOINTS BRIAN JACOLICK GENERAL MANAGER - NORTH AMERICA
SunEdison announced that Brian Jacolick has been promoted to General Manager of North American operations.

GT SOLAR NAMES TWO TO BOARD
Fusen E. Chen, Ph.D., and J. Michal Conaway have joined GT Solar's Board of Directors.

SEBANE MEMBERS MEETING
Over 50 representatives of SEBANE member organizations and guests gathered on Tuesday, June 17, for the annual SEBANE Members Meeting. As has become the tradition at these meetings, this event featured presentations by State clean energy program managers on their respective incentive programs, updates on state and federal legislative initiatives that could affect the industry, and a high level overview of industry trends, both nationally and globally, by SEBANE president Mark Farber, formerly of Evergreen Solar and now with Photon Consulting.

A highlight of the morning meeting was a series of presentations on Utility Involvement in PV. It featured SEBANE-members NSTAR (on its Marshfield Energy Challenge congestion relief pilot program), National Grid (on its Everett congestion relief pilot), and Western Massachusetts Electric Company (on its proposed customer-sited initiative, focusing on municipal projects). The session was introduced by Fran Cummings of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative who described why the MTC was sponsoring these congestion relief pilots. There was extensive discussion among all members during the session about if and how such utility involvement would occur in the future.

ENERGY BILL PASSESS MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE; AWAITS GOVERNOR'S SIGNATURE
After 15 months of discussions and revisions, Massachusetts legislators have approved a forward-looking energy bill that will vault Massachusetts into a leading position in state policy support for solar energy. The bill, among other provisions, raises the net metering cap from 60 KW to 2 MW and allows for perpetual carryover of net excess generation, creates a mandatory carve-out in the renewable portfolio standard for PV and other forms of on-site renewable energy generation such as PV, provides for utility financing of residential renewable energy technology installations, and provides for new support to municipalities for energy efficiency and renewable technology investment.

SEBANE has been an active participant in discussions and negotiations on specific provisions, and our members should benefit greatly from the resulting legislation.

SOLAR TRAINING FOR CODE OFFICIALS
Two recent trainings organized and sponsored by SEBANE, on March 31 (in Hadley, MA) and April 1 (in Boston, MA), focused on proper photovoltaic system installation. The objective of both was to address the interests and concerns of local code officials that permit and inspect PV systems. PV system installers were also invited to participate, resulting in positive dialogue between inspectors and installers about safety issues and concerns that arise with such installations. The trainings were co-sponsored by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) with DOE funding and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Additional co-sponsorship and outreach for both events was provided by the Municipal Electrical Inspectors Association of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which also certified attendees' participation for purposes of continuing education credits. Other partners were IBEW Local 103 (which hosted and donated their superb training facility for the Boston event), Solar Boston and the Office of the Mayor, and Western Massachusetts Electric Company (which hosted the Hadley training and provided lunch and refreshments for attendees).

Mr. Bill Brooks, PE of Brooks Engineering, LLC, led the two full-day trainings. Mr. Brooks has 20 years of experience designing, installing, and evaluating grid-connected PV systems and nearly 4,000 installers and 2,500 inspectors have attended his courses throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has authored several widely used publications including the Inspector Guidelines for PV Systems and is actively involved in the developments of PV codes and standards including IEEE-929 (PV Utility Interconnection) and for NEC Article 690 (Solar Photovoltaic Systems).

Over 160 inspectors and installers attended the two events.

Mark Allen Electric and Solar offers solar photovoltaic site evaluations and installations for residential and commercial clients. The company is located in Arlington, MA.

Silicon Solar offers design and manufacturing of custom solar panel systems for residential and commercial applications consisting of photovoltaic and solar hot water heating technology. The firm's offices are in Bainbridge, NY

Synepex Energy designs and installs solar heating and hot water systems for commercial and residential customers. Synepex is based in Somerville, MA.