Solar Energy International (SEI) is proud to announce our non-profit’s selection onto Code-Making Panel 4 of the National Electrical Code (NEC®), which covers Article 690 “Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems,” along with several other areas.

SEI is represented on Code-Making Panel 4 (CMP-4 / NEC-P04) by two of its Curriculum Developers and Instructors: Rebekah Hren as the Principal and Brian Mehalic as an Alternate.

This is a tremendous honor and responsibility: SEI’s participation in this process gives a voice to our instructors, students, and alumni currently working in the industry. SEI’s years of experience and dedication to the solar industry will complement the viewpoints and strong representation already provided by manufacturers, trade industries, labor organizations, utilities, and AHJs.

And once again, SEI has been an active participant in the PV Industry Forum (PVIF). The PVIF is a collaborative initiative consisting of several organizations dedicated to continually improving the installation safety of PV systems in the U.S.

The PVIF member organizations are the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), the Large-Scale Solar Association (LSA), the PV Industry Codes Council (PVICC), the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), and Solar Energy International (SEI). This coalition has come together to organize, convene, support, and mentor solar industry professionals through the NEC Public Input process, which is open to all solar industry participants. This collaborative effort has resulted in the consensus development of numerous solar-related Public Input proposals for consideration.

A total of 125 Public Inputs were submitted from the PVIF for consideration for the 2020 NEC®. It is an honor to have SEI’s viewpoints considered during this process as there are many industry experts and thought leaders that are putting in a lot of time into making this happen.

The Code-Making Panels will meet in-person from January 8-20 as part of the process to create the First Draft. The First Draft is due July 6, 2018, and will be made available for public comment until 8/30/18. There is a Second Draft in April of 2019, and then the 2020 NEC® should be available in September 2019.