Every residential solar contractor's website talks about their experience, knowledge of rooftop solar products, and happy customers (full disclosure: including mine). Although many states have licensing requirements for contractors, some of these requirements are not specific to rooftop solar work. So how can you find out if a solar contractor really has the right training for the surgery necessary on your roof?

To address this training and certification need, the North American Board of Certified Energy Practioners, or NABCEP, was founded in 2002. Since then they have certified thousands of solar PV and solar thermal installers, as well as solar PV salespeople. In order to become certified, a solar installer or salesperson must document the experience they have, and then must pass a rigorous examination specific to their certification category. As a result of these requirements -- and the reputation that NABCEP has built over the past dozen years -- NABCEP Certification is now considered the "gold standard" for solar training.

My guest on this week's Energy Show on Renewable Energy World is Richard Lawrence, Executive Director of NABCEP. With the rapid growth in the U.S. solar industry, Richard has been quite busy keeping up with the training needs that individuals and companies require -- and homeowners often demand. Please Listen Up as Richard explains how new entrants into the solar industry can become certified by NABCEP, and how NABCEP is keeping up with new solar technologies, building codes and safety requirements.