RMO World – Issue 21: July 2023 Independence Edition

This past month we hosted our quarterly RMO Ambassador Luncheon. Once every quarter we like to get together with some of our local RMO Ambassadors, treat them to lunch, hear their stories and get their feedback on how we can better serve them. These lunches also provide our RMOs with networking opportunities to grow their own businesses and create new friendships with like-minded individuals. This time we all got together at Lucille’s Smokehouse. Great food with some great people! We love to connect with our RMO Agency family and it was wonderful to spend the afternoon together. Here are some pictures from the event. We were also able to talk to our RMOs on camera and you will be seeing some of the footage in the near future, so look out for it! Thank you to all of our Ambassadors who made it out that day! If you are an active RMO and would like to join a future luncheon, please feel free to contact us! And remember, if you have any questions related to your contractor’s license / RMO service, do not hesitate to reach out, we are here for you and enjoy connecting with you!

For some time now there has been a back-and-forth conversation about who is legally able to install  Battery energy storage systems;
C10 (electrical contractor) or C46 (solar contractor)

CSLB Resource

Existing law:
Existing law expressly authorizes the C-10 Electrical Contractor and the C-46 Solar Contractor classifications to install photovoltaic solar energy systems (PV systems), as follows:

• An electrical contractor places, installs, erects or connects any electrical wires, fixtures, appliances, apparatus, raceways, conduits, solar photovoltaic cells or any part thereof, which generate, transmit, transform or utilize electrical energy in any form or for any purpose. (CCR, tit. 16, § 832.10.)
• A solar contractor installs, modifies, maintains, and repairs thermal and photovoltaic solar energy systems. A licensee classified in this section shall not undertake or perform building or construction trades, crafts, or skills, except when required to install a thermal or photovoltaic solar energy system. (CCR, tit. 16, § 832.46.)

This proposal would:

• Add a new definition of “battery energy storage system” to section 810, “Definitions,” of Article 1, Division 8, of Title 16.
• Add “battery energy storage systems” to the description of the C-10 Electrical Contractor classification in section 832.10, “Class C-10 – Electrical Contractor,” of Article 3, Division 8, of Title 16. The proposal also replaces “solar photovoltaic cells” in section 832.10 with the more accurate “photovoltaic solar energy systems” from current section 832.46.
• Revise the existing section 832.46, “Class C-46 – Solar Contractor,” of Article 3, Division 8, of Title 16, by adding two new paragraphs to establish, for the purposes of the C-46 classification, that: (1) a BESS, as defined, is not required to install a PV system and shall not be considered within the scope of the C-46 Solar Contractor classification except as specified in the next subdivision; and (2) the C-46 installation of a BESS is incidental and supplemental to the work of a C-46 Solar Contractor when the BESS is installed at the same time as PV system and the BESS rating does not exceed 80 kWh.

So it sounds like CSLB is proposing a change and a verbal clarification that allows the C10 to install BESS and allows C46 to install it only if incidental and supplemental to the work of the solar contractor and the BESS rating does not exceed 80 kWh.