The Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Electricians has concluded that Patriot Solar Group, a solar subcontractor working on a large ground-mounted array in Southbridge, Mass., used unlicensed employees to perform site labor. The company has been fined $1,000, according to the Worcester Telegram.
The investigation was conducted in response to a complaint filed by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) of Greater Boston. Upon visiting the project site late last year, NECA photographed workers from a staffing agency, hired by Patriot Solar Group, installing racking. The workers were not licensed electricians - a violation of Massachusetts law, the group said.
Adam Parr, an account manager at Patriot Solar, told the Worcester Telegram that his company did not perform electrical work. The racking installation work, he said, fell outside the expertise of electricians.
Matthew Lash, assistant executive manager at NECA of Greater Boston, has maintained that installers are simply seeking to take illegal shortcuts by not having licensed electricians perform all site work.
"Sadly, we're seeing this approach taken all across the commonwealth, especially on these large-scale installations," he told Solar Industry last month.