Video Team for 2017 Solar Photovoltaic Systems DVD Program

Bill Brooks has over 30 years of experience in designing, installing, and evaluating grid-connected PV systems. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and is a registered Professional Mechanical and Electrical Engineer. More than 15,000 installers and inspectors have attended his courses throughout the U.S. and abroad. His field troubleshooting skills have been valuable in determining where problems occur, and to focus training on those issues of greatest need. He’s written several important technical manuals for the industry that are now widely used throughout the United States and beyond. His recent publications include the Expedited Permit Process for PV Systems, the Field Inspection Guidelines for PV Systems, and Understanding the CalFire Solar PV Installation Guidelines, as well as articles in IAEI and SolarPro magazines.

Bill is actively involved in the development of PV codes and standards including IEEE-929 and IEEE1547 (PV Utility Interconnection), the National Electrical Code Article 690 (Solar Photovoltaic Systems), and IEC TC82 (International PV Standards). He’s an active participant on many codes and standards panels including Code Making Panel 4 of the NEC, and UL1703 and UL1741 Standards Technical Panels. He was a member of the California Office of the State Fire Marshal’s (Cal Fire) PV Taskforce that developed the Solar Photovoltaic Installation Guideline, which became the model for national fire regulation. In addition, he chaired the NFPA Large-Scale PV Electric Supply Station task group, the NFPA Firefighter Safety, and PV systems task group, and two of the Article 690 task groups for Code Making Panel 4 for the 2020 NEC.

Bill enjoys helping people make progress toward reaching their God-given potential. His interests include sailing, motorcycle riding, performance automobiles, home theater, and all types of music.

Dave Click, PE has worked in solar energy since the University of Virginia’s 2002 Solar Decathlon. After learning a lot from his time with Solar Design Associates and then the Florida Solar Energy Center, he joined ESA Renewables in 2015. With ESA, Dave leads the engineering team in design, interconnection, grid integration, project management, commissioning, and operations and maintenance. He’s worked on 200MW of utility-scale projects on the east coast of the U.S., and over 200 residential and commercial PV projects. Dave is a licensed Professional Engineer in seven states, a Florida-licensed Electrical Contractor and Solar Contractor, and a NABCEP-certified PV Installation Professional.

Dave and his family live under their 11 kW PV system in Orlando, where they’re in their eighth year of not paying an electric bill!

Mike Culbreath has devoted his career to the electrical industry and worked his way up from apprentice electrician to master electrician. He began by doing residential and light commercial construction, and later did service work and custom electrical installations. While working as a journeyman electrician, he suffered a serious on-the-job knee injury. As part of his rehabilitation, Mike completed courses at Mike Holt Enterprises, and then passed the exam to receive his Master Electrician’s license. ln 1986, with a keen interest in continuing education for electricians, he joined the staff to update material and began illustrating Mike Holt’s textbooks and magazine articles.

Mike started with simple hand-drawn diagrams and cut-and-paste graphics. When frustrated by the limitations of that style of illustrating, he took a company computer home to learn how to operate some basic computer graphic software. Realizing that computer graphics offered a lot of flexibility for creating illustrations, Mike took every computer graphics class and seminar he could to help develop his skills. He’s worked as an illustrator and editor with the company for over 30 years and, as Mike Holt has proudly acknowledged, has helped to transform his words and visions into lifelike graphics.

0riginally from south Florida, Mike now lives in northern lower Michigan where he enjoys hiking, kayaking, photography, gardening, and cooking; but his real passion is his horses. He also loves spending time with his children Dawn and Mac and his grandchildren Jonah, Kieley, and Scarlet

Rebekah Hren is a licensed unlimited electrical contractor and NABCEP-certified PV Installation Professional. She joined Code-Making Panel 4 of the NEC as a principal for Solar Energy International during the 2020 revision cycle. Rebekah has over 15 years of experience working in the PV industry. Since 2007 she’s enjoyed teaching PV system design and inspection classes to thousands of students and Code officials throughout the United States, both online and in person. Rebekah frequently authors technical articles for PV trade magazines, has co-authored two books on renewable energy, and has presented workshops at dozens of solar industry conferences around the world.
From 2019 to 2022 Rebekah worked as hardware engineer for an experimental product development team at Airbnb. Prior to that she was a system designer, consultant, and field service provider for large-scale ground-mounted PV farms. Her primary goal is ensuring that the design and construction of every project with which she’s involved meets and exceeds National Electrical Code requirements, as safety and reliability are her greatest concerns.
In her spare time, Rebekah enjoys off-road adventures in her converted 4x4 van.

Ryan Mayfield has been working in the renewable energy field since 1999 and currently focuses on commercial photovoltaic (PV) system design and education. As the President at Renewable Energy Associates, he provides design, support, and educational services for contractors, architectural and engineering firms, manufacturers, and government agencies. Typical projects include commercial and residential PV system designs and training for PV system designers and installers. Ryan also works directly with manufacturers of PV-specific products, to help gain market acceptance and develop products that directly aid in the implementation and use of their products.

Ryan serves as Photovoltaic Systems Technical Editor for SolarPro magazine, and regularly writes feature articles in SolarPro and Home Power magazines. He’s also the author of PV Design and Installation for Dummies, published in 2010. In addition, Ryan teaches various PV courses across the country for electricians, existing solar professionals, code officials, inspectors, and individuals seeking to join the solar industry. He holds a Limited Renewable Energy Technician (LRT) license in Oregon.

Ryan lives in Corvallis, Oregon with his wife, Amy, and three children, A.J., Lauren and Kai. They enjoy being outdoors as much as possible, especially when they have the opportunity to spend a few days in the canoe.

Richard Stovall has been actively involved in the Solar Industry since 2008, and is motivated by his belief that solar technology will be an engine for economic growth for at least the next century. He’s worked in two different accredited and industry-recognized solar training organizations. Richard has been involved in developing state-of-the-art hands-on training labs for on-site and mobile education, developing curriculum, and training thousands of electricians, firefighters, solar installers, and utility workers. His company, SolPowerPeople, is known for the SolarMOOC Academy, which features free live lectures by industry experts (Mike Holt being the very first) that have been viewed by over 50,000 people globally. Since 2014 Richard and SolPowerPeople’s focus has been on residential PV quality control and inspection, with over 7,000 residential PV inspections (company-wide), in addition to developing a fully integrated mobile platform (app, web portal, and hardware) for onsite solar inspection and shade analysis.

His professional experience includes: CEO and owner of SolPowerPeople, Inc. (since 2011); Director of Operations and Lead Instructor for a leading solar training organization (2009 to 2011); IREC Certified Master Trainer in Photovoltaics; Certified NABCEP PV Installation Professional; LEED AP (Legacy); NABCEP’s technical committees for Solar PV Installation Professional and Solar PV Inspector Credential; IAFF National Trainer for Firefighter PV Safety Training; and assisting other organizations in developing interactive online content, including IREC’s Online Fire Safety Program.

Richard lives with his wife, Leanne, and two children, Piper and Levi, on a ranch just outside Austin, Texas.