PV workers and licensing in Mass

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I may have a few large rooftop (~350kw) PV systems in Mass that I would do with a friend of mine and his crew who is an electrical contractor, but not licensed in Mass. I have a journeyman in Mass. This would be western Mass FWIW. Does anyone have firsthand experience on how larger PV systems are treated in Mass as far as licensing? Specifically what I am asking is, are there exceptions, whether written or not, for all the laborers that lug panels, racking and ballast blocks around? In other jurisdictions I have experience with, it seems they have only really cared about the AC side and kinda dont care about who sets panels. Trying to figure out if this is feasible. Thanks!
 

tkb

Senior Member
Location
MA
I believe in MA all of the work would have to be done with licensed electricians and apprentices at a 1:1 ratio.

With your journeyman license you cannot hire any journeyman electricians.
With a journeyman license you can have one apprentice.
If you want to hire any more than that you will need a master license in the company name.
 
I believe in MA all of the work would have to be done with licensed electricians and apprentices at a 1:1 ratio.

With your journeyman license you cannot hire any journeyman electricians.
With a journeyman license you can have one apprentice.
If you want to hire any more than that you will need a master license in the company name.

I do not disagree with you, that it is what the laws state. However, I see some potential flexibility as to what is "electrical work". Perhaps I should call the jurisdiction this is in and see how they would treat this. I highly doubt that most larger scale PV jobs have nothing but fully legit apprentices and electricians hauling ballast blocks and panels around for weeks, at least that has not been my experience. I would be interested in others' experience, even if not in Mass, just curious.....
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
The company I work off does very large systems in MA and yes all our jobs maintain the ratio.

Yes we are paying electrical people to hall ballast etc.
 

Carultch

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
The company I work off does very large systems in MA and yes all our jobs maintain the ratio.

Yes we are paying electrical people to hall ballast etc.

Is there some definition of non-electrical work that non-electricians alone can do?

I would think hauling ballast would be an example.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Is there some definition of non-electrical work that non-electricians alone can do?

I would think hauling ballast would be an example.

The company I work for does not get involved in pushing this line. The work we are hired to do we treat as electrical work and keep the ratio at 1 to 1. Many of our guys have the proper training and licensing to operate hoisting equipment. The last job I was on we had a small gas powered fork lift made for use on roofs for our guys to haul panels and parts.

There are times when other contractors are responsible for the mounts and such and what that do is up to them and the AHJ
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Worth checking out.


In an unprecedented step enacted on Jan. 30, 2009, the Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Electricians (BSEE) passed a ruling requiring all aspects of solar electric installations to be performed by a state-licensed electrician. The BSEE based its ruling on commonwealth law, which states that anyone who installs “wires, conduits, apparatus, devices, fixtures, or other appliances for carrying or using electricity for light, heat, power, fire warning, or security system purposes” must be a licensed electrician. As a result of the ruling, Massachusetts’ licensing requirements became the strictest of any state, including those with solar licensing mandates. (To read more on this, see “Experience Required” in EC&M’s April 2010 issue).

From here http://m.ecmweb.com/green-building/battle-over-solar-installations-massachusetts
 

jaggedben

Senior Member
Location
Northern California
Occupation
Solar and Energy Storage Installer
So do any of these electricians and apprentices complain about having to haul ballast? :lol: I heard of a project (not in MA) a few years ago where they hired union electricians to do all the labor on a large solar project of many multiple rooftops. There were so many complaints that after a couple weeks they had to bring in the carpenters union to do the mounts and rails. The electricians did everything on top of the rails and everyone was a lot happier.
:happyyes:
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
The company I work for does not get involved in pushing this line. The work we are hired to do we treat as electrical work and keep the ratio at 1 to 1. Many of our guys have the proper training and licensing to operate hoisting equipment. The last job I was on we had a small gas powered fork lift made for use on roofs for our guys to haul panels and parts.

There are times when other contractors are responsible for the mounts and such and what that do is up to them and the AHJ

with residential solar here, often times it's roofers who set the panels.

there is a rule that connection to the grid must be by a licensed electrician,
but everything up to that is often up for grabs.

i had someone wanting C-10's for doing hookups, but looking at
the reward versus the PITA factor, i thought i'd pass.

on a related note, they are starting decommissioning diablo canyon,
convinced that all these little solar panels will close the gap. sure, wilburrr....


"These closures are almost always terrible news for climate change.
When two reactors at the San Onofre nuclear power plant in southern
California
closed in 2013, they were largely replaced by natural gas generation,
leading to higher carbon-dioxide emissions. And Diablo Canyon is even
bigger, supplying 9 percent of California’s electricity.

PG&E claims it can avoid a similar carbon disaster this time around.
In a deal struck with environmental groups, the utility plans to ramp
up investment in efficiency, solar, wind, and storage between now and
2030 to replace Diablo Canyon with clean energy rather than fossil fuels.
The question, however, is whether it can actually pull off this tricky balancing act
— and whether spending all this effort simply to displace existing zero-carbon
energy is really the best way for California to slash emissions."

http://www.vox.com/2016/6/21/11989030/diablo-canyon-nuclear-close


 

c_picard

Senior Member
Location
USA
MA is 1:1 and strictly enforced. Not sure which town you're in, but there are a few where I'd expect a license check on site. Especially if they don't recognize the contractor as someone that has done a project previously.
 
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