The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is pleased to congratulate the 97 individuals who achieved a passing score on the recently administered PV Technical Sales Examination. The group of inaugural certificants has demonstrated extensive knowledge of the complex range of activities that make up a successful photovoltaic sales process. The job task analysis (JTA) that the exam is based on covers eight main topic areas: qualifying the customer; site analysis; conceptual design; financial costs, incentives, and savings; financial benefit analysis and financing; non-financial benefit analysis; performance analysis; and proposal preparation.

Don Warfield, chairperson of NABCEP, says, “Given the topic range of the exam, I’m confident that those who are certified as PV Technical Sale Professionals will be able to provide the highest level of ethical, accurate presentations of a proposed PV systems’ electrical, financial, and environmental performance projections.” He continues, “This credential dovetails nicely with our existing ‘gold-standard’ PV Installer Certification because it offers consumers quality assurance throughout the entire sales, installation, and commissioning process.”

Ezra Auerbach, NABCEP’s executive director, says, “This is the first certification program exam that NABCEP has delivered through a computer-based format—we are very happy with the outcome and have received almost universally positive feed back from exam candidates.” Auerbach continues, “We are already hearing a great deal of interest for the next administration of this exam, and we expect a much higher volume of candidates for the next round of testing.”

The second administration of the NABCEP PV Technical Sales Exam will be held July 15–30, 2011 at computer test centers across the US and Canada. The application deadline to sit for this round of the exam is May 6, 2011. All applications must be completed and received by NABCEP by that date for candidates to be considered for the July examination window. Candidates who complete their applications (including uploading all supporting documentation) before April 1, 2011 will receive a $25 discount on their application fee.