Cost of Solar Pv Training and Test Equipment

[19CLD79]

Hi,

Need a bit of advice, a building contractor i have worked for, for a number of years, as asked about the possibility of me providing him with Solar PV on his upcoming jobs next year.
Considering that i am not accredited to do Solar PV, and the possibility of the building contractor paying half of the costs, how much would it all cost for all training and testing equipment.
Was considering the NICEIC Solar PV, as will probably go through their MCS scheme, as already a NICEIC Approved Contractor, but not sure if any other training provider, which is cheaper then the NICEIC one, is worth it, as not everything that is cheaper is better.

Any useful information that would help me in finding out the total cost, would be appreciated.

Regards


19cld79

 

[Worcester]

To get accredited as an MCS installer in todays economic climate, you might get away with doing it for £10K look at the various threads of becoming MCS Cerrtified.

 

[balbecdaze]

10K? NICEIC PV course £680+VAT, DC Clamp Meter £60 + VAT, Irradiance meter £80 + VAT, Quality manual = time or £95 from one of these easyMCS people. Possibly Working at heights (£100?). You can download the DTi Guide - is the third edition ever going to be published? MSC Accreditation £500 + VAT. I presume you have a MFT or equivalent already.

So that's around 2K, what have I missed?

 

[Noshocks]

10K? NICEIC PV course £680+VAT, DC Clamp Meter £60 + VAT, Irradiance meter £80 + VAT, Quality manual = time or £95 from one of these easyMCS people. Possibly Working at heights (£100?). You can download the DTi Guide - is the third edition ever going to be published? MSC Accreditation £500 + VAT. I presume you have a MFT or equivalent already.

So that's around 2K, what have I missed?

You have missed more things than i can be bothered to list, as well as things I have probably forgotten, I did it on a shoestringg budget and it cost me £4k, dont forget time off work to do the QA, that alone will soak up two weeks at least if done properly.

 

[grandfortune]

yep mine on a shoestring about 3 to 4k, but that was when training was dear.

 

[balbecdaze]

I do agree that I've missed stuff (I assumed OP would have BGB OSG etc) MC4 crimping tools, lifting doo-dahs, a couple of books, etc., but to answer the OPs question and if we exclude lost revenue because it does take time could we say it could be done for 4k?

 

[Gavin A]

I'd expect a qualified spark who was already a member of a CPS scheme could get to MCS certification for around £2.5-3k if they did it all themselves, more like £3.5-4k if they paid for the paperwork, software, and MCS paperwork training. NOT including their actual time, which would equate to around 2-4 weeks in total depending which route they went down.

This also doesn't include the costs of the demo installation, but if the builder wants them to do it, then I'd expect they would be able to supply that installation.

 

[19CLD79]

Hi,

Thanks for the responses, thought it would be about that much. Just making sure i had not missed anything out, when studying what was required to be accredited.
Didn't want to give the Building Contractor a defiant answer, until i knew the costs involved, and would it be worth it, to do, especially with the price of FIT's, and would they be installing enough on their new builds, to make it profitable to me to carry out the work.
Once again cheers for the responses.

Regards

19cld79