Richard Lawrence of IREC on Apprenticeships and More!

Sean White‘s Solar and Energy Storage Podcast

Richard Lawrence has a long history in the solar industry and is very knowledgeable in many areas (He was formerly the Executive Director of NABCEP among other things). Our main focus of this podcast was apprenticeship programs. This is a big deal, since to qualify for the Inflation Reduction Act 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for projects over 1MW, fulfilling the apprenticeship and prevailing wage standards are required.
Topics covered:
Richard Lawrence career:
IREC Program Director currently 5 years irecusa.org
IBTS 2 years - Institute for Building Technology and Safety
NABCEP Executive Director 3.5 yrs<
Solar (PV) Instructor Training Network Hudson Valley Community College
Topics covered and questions answered:
What is an apprenticeship?
What is prevailing wage?
Union vs. non-union
Is prevailing wage different for different places?
Right to work states (anti-union)
Registered apprenticeship programs
Unregistered apprenticeship programs<
How does someone set up an apprenticeship program?
Who to register an apprenticeship program with, like the DOL (Department of Labor)
Local and federal programs
IRA-apprenticeship - tax credits - pay workers prevailing wage 1MW and up
15% of labor hours requirement
What is IREC doing for apprenticeship and What is IREC
Drama with different unions and non-unions-everyone wants the work
$200k/yr electrician cost
Prevailing wage for small vs. large projects
Can election results take away these benefits
Veterans
California C46 solar license and batteries
Solar PV Instructor Training Network
Hudson Valley Community College
SPI
NYSERDA www.nyserda.ny.gov
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center www.masscec.com
Burnham Energy
AHJ
Multi Junction Technology
Apprenticeship programs.
Solar Energy International
Department of Energy www.energy.gov
Larry Sherwood
Soul Smart Program in Puerto Rico
Zoning laws
Donations
Cod community college
Non-Profit Organizations
SEAC Sustainable Energy Action Committee www.sustainableenergyaction.org
ANSI Standards
Jane Weissman
Solar ABC's www.solarabcs.org
Solar ready veterans network
John Kim
American Battery Factory
IBEW International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers www.ibew.org
UBC United Brotherhood of Carpenters www.carpenters.org
ITC
Eike Weber
Herman Scheer
NREL www.nrel.gov
Learn more at www.solarSEAN.com and be sure to get NABCEP certified by taking Sean’s classes at www.heatspring.com/sean