A Training Program for Residential Solar Water and Pool Heating Design, Installation and Troubleshooting with Supplemental Sessions on Commercial Systems.

Course Description

This three day course covers the essentials of residential solar system design, installation, troubleshooting and operation procedures for residential water and pool heating. This workshop is targeted to contractors, building officials, decision makers, government organizations, practitioners who install solar water heating systems and interested parties. The material will be presented in such a manner that is understood by all.

The course format includes classroom instruction and in class demonstrations. These exercises include an installation demonstration of a residential solar water heating system. Emphasis will be placed on system applications, design, sizing, and installation requirements. Commercial understanding of economics, marketing, financing, and general specification development and procurement.

Objectives

Specific objectives of this course include developing the participant’s ability to:

• Determine site selection, system applications, characteristics and considerations of the various system types.

• Describe the function of system components, collector and system certification.

• Determine available system sizing, installation, flashing and sealing methods.

• Understand the FSEC and SRCC installation guidelines.

• Demonstrate installation of residential solar water and pool heating system components.

• Evaluate, troubleshoot, and maintain solar water heating systems.

• Monitoring of both residential and commercial systems.

What Should You Bring

Attendees should bring a notepad, a simple calculator and pen or pencil. Presentation, reference manual and additional hand-out material will be provided.

General Information and Prerequisites

Prerequisites for this course include a fundamental understanding of plumbing materials and methods (i.e., piping, soldering, etc.). Familiarity with basic electrical concepts is also useful (i.e. use of multimeters, etc.).

Workshop Location

This workshop is offered at the Florida Solar Energy Center, 1679 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, FL, located approximately 45 miles east of Orlando International Airport and 3 miles east of I-95. A map, directions and listing of local hotels are available here
Tentative Agenda

A sample course agenda (Adobe Acrobat PDF, 12 KB) is provided for information on schedule and content.

FSEC Training and How It Relates to Installer Certification

Any testing or learning assessment associated with this course should not be confused with national testing and certification offered by NABCEP, or with construction trade licensing offered by state and local jurisdictions. Although some states and municipalities may require that installers receive some form of a certification of completion from a training institution (such as FSEC), these certificates do not provide certification or license of any kind. They are merely intended to recognize successful completion of this training course.

The FSEC Solar Water and Pool Heating Manual is listed as an approved reference standard for the Construction Industries Licensing Board – Solar License. The CILB document reference sheet states that “the answers to the examination questions will be based on the editions listed below (FSEC manual being one of the references). Some of the questions will also be based on field experience and knowledge of trade practices.” For this reason, the FSEC presentation material will be based strictly on the FSEC manual with supplemental material provided as required. In addition, the workshop material also strives to cover the various tasks listed in the national NABCEP Solar Thermal Task Analysis. This course does not provide any type of installer certification. A certificate of completion of this course will be provided. Currently, this course does not offer any continuing education credits.

Registration

The registration fee for this workshop is $600 per person and includes all course materials, lunches and refreshments. Payment is required three weeks prior to the scheduled date (The system will remove your name from the registration list if we have not received payment by the specified time.) This course is non refundable.

Technical contact
John Harrison
Florida Solar Energy Center
Email John Harrison

Registration contact
Kelly Snavely
Florida Solar Energy Center
Email Kelly Snavely

Please include “Thermal Workshop” in subject line for all email messages.

Date	Location	Price
There are no upcoming offerings of this course.

Workshop Presenters

Bill Guiney is the Program Manager for Renewable Energy Solutions at Johnson Controls, Inc. His areas of responsibility include both photovoltaics and solar thermal technologies. Mr. Guiney has 27-years of experience in the solar industry as a contractor, educator, distributor and manufacturer.

Mr. Guiney has provided Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency training programs and currently is an instructor for solar thermal energy systems at the North Carolina and Florida Solar Energy Centers. Bill is on the solar thermal technical committee of the North American Board of Certified Energy Professionals (NABCEP) and provides the Solar Thermal Exam preparation training for the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC).

John Harrison is currently a Senior Research Analyst at the Florida Solar Energy Center. He has been employed at the Florida Solar Energy Center since 1980. He has managed a variety of solar programs at FSEC. These include solar implementation, educational development, solar product certification and system monitoring.

Mr. Harrison has also been responsible for directing the activities of the FSEC solar system certification programs as well as numerous other solar and energy related projects and programs. He also provides technical assistance to the national Solar Rating & Certification Corporation (SRCC) in the development of training programs and ancillary SRCC activities.

He has provided solar system installation consulting and training to numerous Florida, national and international organizations. Mr. Harrison has published numerous articles, documents, and manuals related to solar water heating.
Henry M. Healey is a professional engineer, general contractor, and educator with extensive experience in the application of commercial and industrial solar systems. Mr. Healey has been responsible for the design and refurbishment of numerous successful solar projects covering the spectrum of solar technologies including active, passive, heating, cooling, solar electric (wind and photovoltaic) and biomass applications.

Healey assisted in the development ASHRAE’s commercial solar publications Active Solar Heating Systems Design Manual, Active Solar Heating Systems Installation Manual and Guide for Preparing Active Solar Heating Systems Operation and Maintenance Manual. Mr. Healey routinely provides design, consulting and training services related to the development and installation of commercial solar applications. He has provided solar training and assisted in the development of training and O&M materials for numerous Educational and Professional organizations and including ASHRAE, NREL, FSEC, and the UN.
Jeremy Mills is a solar installation professional with six years experience in the U.S. and abroad Mr. Mills has designed and installed solar hot water systems in a variety of climates. A few of his high profile installs include; Cayman Islands Hospital, Wendy’s Restaurant, and the Governor’s Mansion on Grand Cayman. Jeremy has installed over 1,000 solar hot water collectors residentially and commercially. He is currently working at AET in Jacksonville, FL leading their commercial installation crew and providing dealer training internationally.

Robert Zrallack is the President of Solar Energy Systems, Fort Pierce, Florida and a State Certified Solar Contractor (CVC056637) since 1987. Mr. Zrallack currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association, the Florida Solar Energy Research and Educational Foundation, and Banner Center committee member. He is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Professional Testing Associates (develop questions for the Florida certified solar contractor examination), and SME for NABCEP for the national thermal examination. He is a participating member of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council Energy Task Force, the Treasure Coast Chapter of the Florida Home Builders Association and the Florida Spa and Pool Association. Mr. Zrallack was appointed by Governor to serve on the Construction Industry Task Force.

He has designed, installed and/or consulted on the last three Olympic solar heated pools and designed over 300 large scale commercial solar pool heating systems in the U.S., Mexico and South America.