I'll be graduating Purdue this Dec. with a bachelors in EET (well, changed to ECET this sem) and for a couple years now I've been real thinkin about starting my own renewable energy business doing sales, design, and installs, the full load. For the past 2 years since I've started thinking about it, I've read a lot of books, and done a bit more research on RE just because I found it interesting. Now that I'm approaching graduation, I'm looking into more of what I will need to be a business in the energy field and I'm not coming up with much help in google searches except for this excellent site! [Linked Image]

Now I take it I will need to have an electricians license to install systems into houses. How is this possible? The basic info I've been able to find is that you need to be an apprentice electrician before you're a journeyman, and journeyman to master I take it. But the requirements for an apprentice license are that you have 5 years experience? At least for Muncie which is the only IN town I could find requirements for about the license. How would this be possible than for me to accomplish this goal if I would not be able to obtain an electricians license? I supposed I COULD hire one for the installs, but that would be a big chunk of change outta the biz that me and a partner could, and would want to, just do ourselves. Or Do I have it all wrong here? The only thing the Lafayette, IN site mentions is some b.s. that EE majors are handed a license (see it doesn't say what kind either, such as the apprentice,journey, masters?) upon receiving their bachelors. EET's are the ones that apply all the theory they learn, EE's don't apply jack so why would they be handed a license where you actually have to apply?! (hehe, no offense to any other EE's out there).

One of my fellow EET students also works as an electrician with his dad out in the county near Crawfordsville and he said they're not required to have licenses there. I asked him what was necessary and he said he thought it was just passing the exam. I was looking at some books on amazon to study the code and the exam, but for now there doesn't seem to be any reason for that if 5 years experience is a requirement to get a license. And is an electrical contractors license something completely different and that's what I should be looking for? Man I am just very confused and frustrated about this and I hope someone can read this this long mess of a post and help me out! [Linked Image] Well tahnks in advance,

Tom