Comment by kelnos
1 day ago
Depends on where you are. I can DIY the physical mounting parts of a rooftop install where I live (San Francisco), but a licensed electrician needs to do (or at least supervise) the wiring.
I do wonder if having an electrician come by after the fact to inspect it counts as "supervising", though.
Here in NM, you can take a "homeowner's solar exam", and if you pass (75%) you can do the full install, including connecting to the grid, yourself.
The exam is much harder than one might expect, but if you're reasonably competent with residential wiring, far from impossible. It covers a bunch of stuff that is irrelevant for 90% of all residental solar installs, naturally.
So, basically they make you pass a licensed electrician exam but don’t give you the full license.
No, it is very, very, very far from the full electrician exam. Still a lot more than one might expect from the open book aspect, and the amount of the NEC it actually covers.
you know journeyman electricians bring more than "passed one exam on the solar unit", right?
California just passed "balcony solar" but requires G99 certification, which is, of course, slightly different than the G98 that everyone else on the planet uses.