NABCEP Credentials

There are no specific pre-requisites to taking a NABCEP PV System Inspector Exam. That means no specific education requirements or work experience requirements to sit for the exam.

See the NABCEP Handbook for more details.

Still, it's not easy and you do have to study. We recommend the NABCEP PV System Inspector (PVSI) Certification Prep Course as the best way to prepare for the exam, which includes practice tests specifically for the PVSI exam.

There is no application fee to take the PVSI exam (all other Professional Certifications are $125). The exam fee is just $150 (all other Professional Certifications have a $375 exam fee).

If you need to retake the exam, that fee is $150.

All NABCEP fees are listed here.

The PVSI Job Task Analysis provides a blueprint for the exam.

The main content areas covered are:

• Inspecting electrical components and systems (44%)
• Inspecting energy storage components and systems (21%)
• Inspecting mechanical/structural components and systems (21%)
• Documentation for the system inspection (14%)

The PVSI exam must be taken via live remote proctoring. The exam must be scheduled and taken within one year of NABCEP approving your application.

Candidates get up to 2 hours to complete the exam.

The PVSI exam consists of 45 equally weighted multiple choice questions, with 4 choices per question. 40 of the questions are scored and 5 of the questions are un-scored pilot questions. A total scaled score is used to determine if a candidate passed or failed and ranges from 0-99. A scaled score of 65 is required to pass the PVSI exam.

All of your exam paperwork must match your valid government-issued identification, so make sure to not use nicknames or abbreviated names during the application process.

A total of 8 advanced PV training hours are required to maintain your PVSI certification and documentation must be submitted to NABCEP every 3 years for your certification renewal.

These 8 hours must cover the National Electrical Code (NEC).

All NABCEP-approved HeatSpring courses will have a chart at the bottom of the course landing page which summarizes approved hours by exam and sub-categories.