July 31, 2018

SEI Professional Services (SEIPS) Receives Prestigious Honor of 2018 Solar Power World Top 500 Contractor

SEI Professional Services (SEIPS) Receives Prestigious Honor Of 2018 Solar Power World Top 500 Contractor Solar Power World, the solar industry’s leading business-to-business publication, today announced the release of its 2018 Top Solar Contractors list. SEI Professional Services (SEIPS) from Paonia, Colorado was named to this prestigious list for the first time ever. SEIPS earned a high ranking of 38th out of the top 500 contractors in the U.S. solar industry.  This ranking placed SEIPS 2nd within

April 30, 2018

SEIPS Case Study: Delta Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) and Area School District Solar Deployments

SEIPS Case Study: Delta Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) And Area School District Solar Deployments As part of an on-going effort to encourage renewable energy in the local communities, SEI Engineering (SEIE) has been working with Solar Energy International (SEI) and the local utility company, Delta Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) to design 10 kW grid connected PV systems for several local schools. In addition to providing modest energy offset, these solar electric systems will serve as educational and demonstration systems

March 18, 2018

SEIPS Interview: Make solar power, not tobacco

SEIPS Interview: Make Solar Power, Not Tobacco by Janet Pelley / Originally posted by Ecological society of America Tobacco farmers could make more money if they replaced their crops with solar panel arrays, concludes a new study (Land Use Policy 2018; doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.01.010). The substitution would reduce fossil‐fuel use, prevent displacement of food cropland by renewable energy projects, and help to eliminate a non‐food crop that is the leading cause of avoidable death globally. “Deploying thousands of terawatts of solar power is necessary

March 14, 2018

SEI Engineering Helps Bring 5MW Solar PV System Online in Wadesboro, NC

SEI Engineering Helps Bring 5MW Solar PV System Online In Wadesboro, NC SEI Engineering (SEIE) served as the Electrical, Civil, and Structural Engineer for the Wadesboro Solar project recently highlighted in a press release by Schletter Inc. SEIE also acted as the Design Project Manager, working closely with the developer, installer, and equipment manufacturers to efficiently execute the design of this 5MW AC (7.65 MW DC) solar PV system located in Wadesboro, NC. “Building a solid team at the conception of

February 12, 2018

SEIPS Tech Tips: Reducing Solar PV Costs Through Quality Assurance

Reducing Solar PV Costs Through Quality Assurance by Kyra Holt, Director of Engineering Developers in the solar PV industry face tough challenges as costs fluctuate in their capital expenditure column. In contrast, the most controllable item in their estimates can be the design and installation process itself, and specifically quality. Through a targeted quality campaign, costs can be controlled by implementing relatively small but important steps

January 25, 2018

SEIPS Tech Tips: Workspace Clearances for Solar PV Systems

Workspace Clearances For Solar PV Systems by Rebekah Hren – SEIPS Senior Technician and PV System Designer – Solar Energy International Principal, CMP-4 of the National Electrical Code Whether drafting an equipment layout for an engineered planset, physically mounting equipment, or inspecting and commissioning a solar PV system, it’s important to keep clearances in mind. Of course the first place to start is with National Electrical Code required workspace clearances, found in NEC Section 110.26 and Table 110.26(A)(1).

January 17, 2018

SEIPS Tech Tips: Torque advice for PV Installers – One Grunt or Two Grunts?

Torque Advice For PV Installers – One Grunt Or Two Grunts? by Brian Mehalic – SEIPS Senior Technician I inspect a lot of PV systems, and the most common problem I see is electrical connections not being properly tightened.  This is by no means a PV-specific problem, attested to by the addition of Section 110.14(D) in the 2017 National Electrical Code.  I’m paraphrasing here, but basically if the equipment specifies a torque value, you have to use a

January 16, 2018

SEIPS Case Study: Bedford Solar – 3MW Solar PV with Single-axis Tracking in Bedford, Virginia

SEIPS Case Study: Bedford Solar – 3MW Solar PV With Single-Axis Tracking In Bedford, Virginia Project Summary: The undulating terrain of this 58-acre parcel with a project area of 16.2 acres made this a challenging site for a single-axis tracker, however our engineering team worked closely with the racking manufacturer and civil engineer to optimize the site for installation and system performance. Design Highlights: Layout takes advantage of the slight southern facing slope of the parcel, while varied east to west

November 30, 2017

SEI Professional Services Team Members Selected to Serve on the National Electrical Code (NEC®) Code-Making Panel 4

SEI Professional Services is proud to announce that we have team members participating on the Code-Making Panel 4 of the National Electrical Code (NEC®), which covers Article 690 “Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems,” along with several other areas. Officially, SEI’s non-profit technical training school is being represented on Code-Making Panel 4 (CMP-4 / NEC-P04) by two SEIPS team members who are also Curriculum Developers and Instructors for SEI’s non-profit educational operations:  Rebekah Hren as the Principal and Brian Mehalic as an Alternate. This

November 18, 2017

SEIPS Case Study: Testing and Inspecting the Solar Microgrid at Palmyra Atoll for The Nature Conservancy

SEIPS Case Study: Testing And Inspecting The Solar Microgrid At Palmyra Atoll For The Nature Conservancy Palmyra Atoll, a spectacular marine wilderness in the vast equatorial Pacific, is a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge and a Nature Conservancy center for world-class ocean and climate research. The Conservancy’s Research Station is supported by a three-phase microgrid that includes solar electric, diesel generators, and battery banks for energy storage. Electrical loads are distributed between the science laboratory, offices, kitchen and