The Certified Solar Energy Professional: A Pathway to a "Green Job"?

I recently came across an organization called "Roof Integrated Solar Energy" and noticed that they are issuing their own certification: the Certified Solar Energy Professional designation.  Indeed, it looks like certification is the organization's main raison d'etre (pardon my French), though they seem to have ties to the national association of roofing contractors in the United States.  It looks like the credential is being pitched at four distinct audiences: people who install solar roofing, manufacturers (who, it appears, are not so much being approached to certify their own in-factory workforces as being asked to require that the installers of their products be Certified Solar Energy Professionals), designers, and building owners - though, like many certification programs, it will probably be a difficult challenges to get homeowners to check for this particular certificate when hiring a contractor.  So, at the same time that they are reaching out to individuals and small business owners to get certified, they are also reaching out to people in positions to implement requirements to specify that this certification become a prerequisite for getting roof-mounted-solar installing work.  

Does it actually matter whether a professional has this certification?  It's hard to say, especially since (in part because this is a relatively new certification) there doesn't seem to be much written online about how rigorous the examination process is or how deep the body of knowledge covered on the exam is.  It also appears to be more pitched at the firm than the individual, so I wonder how many people earning this certification will do so out of love of solar installation, relative to the legions who probably fall into the "my boss made me do it because the manufacturer/architect/contractor/state grant-making agency told us they wanted this particular certification"

As I dug a little deeper into their website, I noticed that it seems that this one is really quite roof-oriented, despite the suggestion implied by the organization's name that they cover all types of solar energy.  Thus, I suspect that this certification may be part of the roofers' arsenal in the inter-occupational turf war emerging over which occupations will take the lead in offering solar energy related services and, more broadly, who organizations will turn to in order to become more sustainable.  Some of their competitors in this regard include:

• The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners
• The Association of Energy Engineers, and
• ETA International

More to come at a later date on these and other certifications that may or may not be useful for landing one of those much-anticipated "green jobs"...