Creating an Industry Recognized Energy Storage Certification Credential

可再生能源是美国增长最快的行业之一，劳工部发现，太阳能和风能技术人员是美国增长最快的两个职业。美国能源情报署预测，2021年新增电力装机容量的81%将来自可再生资源，主要是太阳能、风能和电池储能系统。最新的技术尤其重要，因为目前大多数社区大学的能源技术项目都不涉及能源储存，而且使用这项技术的技术人员也没有普遍接受的教育或培训标准。在这个项目中，ATE创造能源中心正在与中西部可再生能源协会(MREA)和北美认证能源从业者委员会(NABCEP)合作，创建一个新的行业认可的能源储存认证证书。该项目将建立在之前由Create和MREA开发的工作任务分析草案的基础上，并将其作为开发和启动新的能源储存技术认证的框架。这一过程将涉及一项全面的行业调查，以验证专门针对能源储存部门的工作任务分析，组织一个能源储存专题专家委员会来制定认证标准并为综合认证考试撰写问题，以及进行心理测量数据分析，以确保考试问题和截止分数的严密性和准确性。拟议的储能认证将通过ANSI认证，并将成为住宅和小型商业可再生能源行业的统一实践标准。这也将成为CREATE、MREA和其他教育提供者开发的课程的主干，为学生获得新的能源储存认证做准备，该认证将由NABCEP管理。该项目将向NSF ATE社区引入两个新的行业组织和两个新的行业合作绩效指标，从而加强学术界和产业界之间的联系，为能源部门提供熟练的技术劳动力。此外，项目组将开发英语和西班牙语的能源储存认证考试，为促进清洁能源部门的公平做出重要贡献。虽然该项目制定的拟议储能认证将针对住宅和商业太阳能部门，但认证中确定的工作任务分析和行业标准的许多方面也将与电动汽车相关。这一努力有可能导致为运输部门制定一项平行的未来认证倡议。通过创建一支熟练和有资质的劳动力队伍，该项目可能有助于为致力于未来存储技术(如锂聚合物电池、金属空气电池、液流电池和燃料电池)的美国公司提供更容易的市场准入。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Renewable Energy is one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. and the Department of Labor has found that solar and wind technicians are the two fastest growing occupations in the nation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has projected that 81% of all new electrical capacity installed in 2021 will be from renewable resources, primarily in the forms of solar, wind, and battery energy storage systems. The lattermost technology is especially important, because most community college energy technology programs do not currently address energy storage, and there are no commonly accepted standards of education or training for technicians working with this technology. In this project, the ATE CREATE Energy Center is partnering with the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) and the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) to create a new industry recognized Energy Storage Certification credential.This project will build upon the draft Job Task Analysis previously developed by CREATE and MREA and will apply it as the framework to develop and launch a new Certification in Energy Storage Technology. The process will involve a comprehensive industry survey to validate a Job Task Analysis specific to the energy storage sector, organization of a committee of energy storage subject matter experts to develop certification criteria and to write questions for a comprehensive certification exam, and psychometric data analysis to ensure the rigor and accuracy of exam questions and cutoff scores. The proposed Energy Storage Certification will be ANSI accredited and will become the uniform standards of practice for the residential and small commercial renewable energy industry. This will also form the backbone for curricula to be developed by CREATE, MREA and other education providers to prepare students to earn the new Energy Storage Certification, which will be administered by NABCEP. This project will introduce two new industry organizations and two new industry based Co-PIs to the NSF ATE Community, thus strengthening the connection between academia and industry to provide a skilled technical workforce for the energy sector. In addition the project team will develop energy storage certification exams in both English and Spanish, making an important contribution to advance equity in the clean energy sector. Although the proposed Energy Storage Certification developed in this project will target the residential and commercial solar sectors, many aspects of the Job Task Analysis and the industry standards that are identified in the certification will also be relevant to electric vehicles. It is possible that this effort could lead to a parallel future certification initiative for the transportation sector. By creating a skilled and credentialed workforce, this project may help to facilitate an easier marketplace entry for U.S. firms working on future storage technologies such as lithium polymer batteries, metal-air batteries, flow batteries and fuel cells. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.