Deadline Nears for Walt Ratterman Award Nominations

The award is named for Walt Ratterman, a humanitarian powerhouse and solar energy advocate extraordinaire who died in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, during the January 2010 earthquake that claimed an estimated 200,000 victims. Ratterman had dedicated much of his life to bringing appropriate technologies to poor, rural populations around the world. He was in Haiti assisting with the installation of solar electric systems on local schools and orphanages when the quake struck the impoverished island nation.

NABCEP Board Chair Don Warfield  recalled Ratterman as “…an amazing man; his commitment to those less fortunate was one of his defining characteristics,” Warfield said. “His work was inspirational for many in our industry. By creating this award we hope that Walt’s legacy will continue to inspire other renewable energy installers to follow his formidable lead.”

Nominees for the award must be NABCEP Certificants in good standing and may work in any technology for which NABCEP offers certifications. Installations may be domestic or international, and they must be provided at no charge for a charitable organization. As guidance for its decision, the award committee will consider such factors as the project’s legacy, use of local labor and materials, on-the-job-training, and project sustainability.

The recipient of the award will be announced each year at a major renewable energy conference. Nominations should include details of the individual nominated, their project, and the reasons for the nomination. All nominations should be forwarded to Ezra Auerbach, eauerbach@nabcep.org.

For more information about the Award, please see the information sheet on NABCEP’s website: www.nabcep.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Walt-Ratterman-Award-FINAL1.pdf

About NABCEP

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is a volunteer board of renewable energy stakeholder representatives that includes representatives of the solar industry, NABCEP certificants, renewable energy organizations, state policy makers, educational institutions, and the trades. Each member of the board was chosen because of his or her experience and involvement in the solar energy industry. NABCEP’s mission – to support, and work with, the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, professionals, and stakeholders – is intended to develop and implement quality credentialing and certification programs for practitioners.

For further information about NABCEP, please visit: www.nabcep.org

About Walt Ratterman

Walt Ratterman worked his way from shop boy to senior vice president in his 15 years with one of the nation’s leading electrical contractors, Foley Electric, Inc. He subsequently founded TRC Electrical Construction Services, a commercial electrical contracting firm installing solar PV systems in Pennsylvania and Maryland. In 2003, Walt was one of the first PV installers to pass the rigorous North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certification exam. He earned a Master of Science degree in Renewable Energy from Murdoch University in Australia and accumulated extensive renewable energy design and installation experience internationally.

Walt’s hands-on PV experience included residential and commercial PV installations in the eastern U.S., as well as rural solar PV installations in Nicaragua, the Galapagos Islands, southern Ecuador, Peru, Arunachal Pradesh in India, Burma, Thailand, and Rwanda with NGO organizations such as Solar Energy International and Knightsbridge International. As a commissioner of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, Walt participated in humanitarian relief efforts in other developing nations, including Afghanistan, southern Philippines, and Cambodia.

For more information about Walt and his remarkable work, please listen to this podcast -  www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/podcast/2010/03/podcast-a-salute-to-walt-ratterman - available on RenewableEnergyWorld.com about his life and his impact on the solar industry.

About SunEnergy Power International

SunEnergy Power International is dedicated to promoting an increased quality of life in remote, rural regions of the world through the use of renewable energy. SunEPI concentrates on some of the more difficult areas of the world, difficult due to either remoteness or geopolitical conditions in the area. Its projects are driven by what clients need, and most often focus on basic life essentials such as delivery of health systems and delivery of water.

Contributions to continue the legacy of Walt’s work may be made to SunEnergy Power International at their website, www.sunepi.org.