NABCEP SH Associate study plan

Build a blank site-analysis worksheet you can reuse, with fields for orientation, tilt, shading, roof or ground condition, and available area.

Practice a full load analysis on a sample household: list appliances, estimate daily watt-hours, and apply a design margin and an autonomy allowance.

Explain in writing how daily energy demand, peak sun hours, and system losses combine to size array and battery capacity.

Identify which site data you must collect on every visit before any equipment is quoted.

Compare three site types (pitched roof, flat roof, ground mount) and record what changes in the analysis for each.

Calculate battery bank capacity for two autonomy scenarios and note how depth of discharge and temperature derating shift the result.

Produce a shading estimate for a described obstruction and translate it into a percentage production loss.

Map each major safety hazard in a solar hot water installation to the control that prevents it.

Summarize the code topics that govern potable water connections, pressure relief, and freeze protection, citing the code family rather than memorizing clause numbers.

Describe the certification and licensing landscape a solar thermal installer typically encounters and what each credential actually covers.

Draft a pre-installation safety checklist covering roof access, lifting, electrical isolation, and scald risk.

Match collector types to climate and load profile: flat plate, evacuated tube, and unglazed, with reasoning for each match.

Design a freeze-protection strategy for a cold climate and a stagnation strategy for a hot, high-irradiance climate.

Explain how hard water, dust, salt air, and snow load each change system selection or mounting.

Determine correct orientation and tilt for year-round domestic hot water versus a winter-maximizing design, and state the tradeoff.

Lay out a collector array on a described roof, showing row spacing that avoids inter-row shading at the winter solstice.

Specify the pipe route, insulation, and drainback or closed-loop arrangement for one chosen design.

Identify the installation sequence from roof penetration through commissioning.

List each balance-of-system component in a pumped solar thermal system and state its function and common failure mode.

Select and justify expansion tank, pressure relief valve, check valve, air vent, and controller settings for one design.

Explain how heat transfer fluid choice affects materials, maintenance interval, and freeze protection.

Describe how sensor placement and controller differential settings influence pump cycling and energy yield.

Build a preventive maintenance calendar covering fluid checks, pressure and expansion tank inspection, collector cleaning, and freeze protection verification.

Diagnose three described faults (no hot water, frequent relief valve discharge, pump short cycling) and trace each to likely causes.

Write the steps for a safe seasonal shutdown and restart of a solar thermal system.

Distinguish owner-level maintenance tasks from tasks requiring a qualified technician.

Revisit your weakest two domains and redo one practice task for each without notes.

Assemble a single one-page reference sheet of key formulas, climate rules of thumb, and safety controls.

Run a timed mixed review across all six domains and log every missed concept.

Review your logged misses and confirm each is now explainable in your own words.