KENTUCKY (KY) PROPERTY VALUATION
ADMINISTRATOR (PVA) EXAM PRACTICE
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
(VERIFIED ANSWERS) PLUS RATIONALES
2025/2026 Q&A
Which is the most important safety requirement for checking voltage? - Wear proper
PPE
It is always important to wear proper PPE while performing any job. Although the other
answers could be correct, they are looking for the best answer. This is a tricky one so
let's go through why we choose D over the other options.
Which of these would cause an interactive inverter to turn off for safety? - Grid is out
Interactive inverters are inverters that are connected to the grid and are capable of
exporting power to the grid. When the grid goes out interactive inverters will anti-island,
or disconnect from the grid, to protect workers that may be working on the utility wires
during the outage. Clouds and warm temperatures both may cause the inverter to
output less power and work less efficiently but should not cause an inverter to shut
down for safety reasons. Having a relatively high PV to inverter ratio is a good thing for
inverter efficiency. Typically, a ratio of around 1.25 kW of PV to 1 kW of inverter power
works well to make sure the PV is producing enough to keep the inverter output close to
its maximum efficiency and to get your money's worth out of your inverter and ac
components. If there is way too much PV to inverter the inverter the inverter will not be
able to use all of the potential power produced by the PV. That would be a waste of PV
in some cases, but the inverter will only use as much as it is rated for so having a high
PV to inverter ratio is not dangerous. Some people use a PV to inverter ratio as high as
2:1. This can also be called an ILR for inverter load ratio. When the PV could have
produced more with a larger inverter, we call that missed power "clipping". It is often
considered a good design to allow for some clipping.
How can you ensure that you do not void the warranty of a tile roof when installing a PV
system? - Follow instructions provided by roof manufacturer
With a tile roof, just like with any roof, you need to follow manufacturer's instructions in
order to not avoid warranty. There may be different warranties involved, such as the
roof, the PV and the racking system. Walking on the supported part of the tile is
,something that roofers are experts at, but always look for the warranty question to have
a follow manufacturer's instruction kind of answer.
What is the proper slope of an extension ladder? - 1:4 slope is required for a ladder
according to OSHA. This means that for every 1 unit of distance towards you, the ladder
will go up 4 units of distance. Many people that use ladders say that if you are standing
with your feet at the base of a ladder and put your arms straight in front of you, if they
touch the ladder, that is about a 1:4 slope. Note: If you use the length of the ladder from
where it touches the ground to the roof for the "4" part of 1:4 that is what it says in the
OSHA regulations, but most tests have it the other way, but the difference in the angle
of the ladder is very small. This part of the triangle is called the hypotenuse.
What do you often see in a solar service agreement (SSA) to ensure system
performance? - 1:4
A solar service agreement can be a power purchase agreement (PPA) or a solar lease.
As for ensuring performance, remote monitoring is very important. If you want to go
beyond the scope of this exam and course, you may learn more about this at:
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/why-solaras-a-service-is-not-going-
away-anytime-soon Be aware that this article was written by a solar financial service
provider, which may have opinions in it. I have always liked them. (There is another type
of service in electrical terms that you should know and that is an electrical service,
which is where the utility "serves" you electricity, through the "service conductors".
Voltage drop of conductors is based on: - The length and diameter of the conductor
Voltage drop is calculated by using ohm's law, which states V=IR. To determine V for
voltage drop, we will need to know the current and the resistance of the wire I. To
calculate R, we need to know the properties of the conductor. A thicker wire has less
resistance (better for carrying current) and a shorter wire has less resistance that a
longer wire. To reduce voltage drop, someone should reduce the length or increase the
width of the wire. A more advanced topic is voltage drop percentage and this topic is not
needed to answer this question. Voltage drop is how much voltage you lose on a wire.
Voltage drop percentage is calculated by determining how much voltage you lose to:
how much voltage you have. A lot of times PV systems have somewhere in the
neighborhood of 1 to 3% voltage drop percentage, which means they are losing 1-3% of
their power due to voltage drop (wire loss). As PV modules go down in price, it is more
reasonable to save money on wire and have more voltage drop. Also, recall that Volts x
Amps = Watts, so a decrease in voltage drop percentage is the same as power loss
percentage. Using a transformer to increase voltage, while decreasing current is
another strategy for decreasing voltage drop and voltage drop percentage. High voltage
and low current has less power losses, but has a tendency to be more sparky.
Which is the best solution of the following for multiple orientations when designing a PV
system? - Microinverter
,A Microinverter will do maximum power point tracking on a PV module level, so that the
PV source circuit is one module. Every module will work independently. Dc-to-dc
converters (power optimizers) can also have maximum power point tracking on a PV
module level. Note: It is possible to have 2 or 3 modules in series with a microinverter,
which may be more common in the future. Some microinverters can work with 4
modules, which are not in series and each have their own MPP.
Standard Testing Conditions (STC) temperature is: - 25C Cell Temperature
STC is 25C cell temperature, 1000 watts per square meter irradiance and 1.5 Air Mass.
You should know this by memory. Note: All other testing conditions (such as NOCT,
PTC and PVUSA) temperature is 20C ambient, which is actually a hotter cell
temperature than 25C, since the cells will often heat up around 30C hotter than ambient
when in the sun.
Which code must be complied with for PV installs? - NEC Article 690
NEC (National Electrical Code) Article 690 Photovoltaic Systems contains the electrical
installation rules used for PV systems in the USA and other places. The other articles of
the NEC must also be adhered to in the NEC. For instance, Article 705 Interconnected
Power Production Sources is used when connecting to the utility and Article 310
Conductors for General Wiring is used for wire sizing of PV systems. The NEC is also
known as NFPA 70. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is an
international standard and is not intended to be a code that is followed like a rule book,
such as the NEC. UL 1741 is the standard for testing electronic equipment used in PV
systems, such as inverters. IEEE (Institute or Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is
also a standards organization.
Which level has the authority over enforcement of the NEC usually? - Local
The Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) that usually interprets the NEC and approves
the permits is the local city or county building department. There are some exceptions,
such as when doing a project on a federally owned property, you may have the federal
government being the AHJ. Also, in some cases, such as a mobile home, you may have
the state as the AHJ. Check your local rules. The NFPA just writes the NEC and does
not enforce it. You could also say that the utility is the AHJ when it comes to the
interconnection. Here is from the NEC: 90.4 Enforcement. This Code is intended to be
suitable for mandatory application by governmental bodies that exercise legal
jurisdiction over electrical installations, including signaling and communications
systems, and for use by insurance inspectors. The authority having jurisdiction for
enforcement of the Code has the responsibility for making interpretations of the rules,
for deciding on the approval of equipment and materials, and for granting the special
permission contemplated in a number of the rules.
Undersized PV array - Decreases battery life
, Decreased array size decreases battery life (due to not charging battery fully). Not fully
charging a lead-acid battery often is not good for the battery. This is not the case for
lithium-ion batteries. Lead-acid batteries get lead-phosphate crystals building up on the
plates when they do not receive a full charge often.
Why do we need to know the lowest expected temperature? - Prevent over voltage
Lower temperatures cause higher PV voltages. If the location gets very cold, we will not
be able to connect as many modules in series as if we were in a location that never was
cold. You can put more modules in series in Hawaii than you can in Alaska.
What does a hydrometer measure? - Specific gravity of battery acid
A hydrometer measures specific gravity of battery acid. The specific gravity of water is
defined as 1 and a fully charged battery has a specific gravity of about 1.265. A
hydrometer looks a bit like what is known in some circles as a turkey baster. Hydro =
fluid Meter = measure
Concentrated PV - Only works with direct sunlight
Concentrated PV only works with direct sunlight. Also concentrated PV usually works
with 2-axis trackers that always point at the sun and will not work at all during cloudy
conditions. We need direct sunlight, so we can focus sunbeams to make concentrating
solar technologies work. Many people confuse concentrating PV with concentrating
solar thermal. PV is converting sunlight directly to electricity, whereas thermal is working
with heat. Concentrating PV is very rare, especially since solar cells have gone down in
price over the last 2 decades. Concentrating solar thermal is not as rare, but not
common.
What is the NEC for? - Practical safeguarding of persons and property
Here is the explanation of what the NEC is for right out of the beginning of the NEC:
NEC 90.1 Purpose. (A) Practical Safeguarding. The purpose of this Code is the
practical safeguarding of persons and property from hazards arising from the use of
electricity. This Code is not intended as a design specification or an instruction manual
for untrained persons. Practical safeguarding of persons and property does include
installation of conductors, PV systems and interconnections, but the NEC is not an
installation manual. The NEC is not concerned about efficiency, just safety.
A performance guarantee is: - Something that can be spelled out in the fine print of a
solar service agreement, such as a PPA or a solar lease and often tells a minimum of
how much energy you should expect from your system.
A performance guarantee is based on what a PV system will produce and not to be
confused with a solar module warranty. This performance guarantee may also depend
on ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M) from an approved provider. If you do
ADMINISTRATOR (PVA) EXAM PRACTICE
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
(VERIFIED ANSWERS) PLUS RATIONALES
2025/2026 Q&A
Which is the most important safety requirement for checking voltage? - Wear proper
PPE
It is always important to wear proper PPE while performing any job. Although the other
answers could be correct, they are looking for the best answer. This is a tricky one so
let's go through why we choose D over the other options.
Which of these would cause an interactive inverter to turn off for safety? - Grid is out
Interactive inverters are inverters that are connected to the grid and are capable of
exporting power to the grid. When the grid goes out interactive inverters will anti-island,
or disconnect from the grid, to protect workers that may be working on the utility wires
during the outage. Clouds and warm temperatures both may cause the inverter to
output less power and work less efficiently but should not cause an inverter to shut
down for safety reasons. Having a relatively high PV to inverter ratio is a good thing for
inverter efficiency. Typically, a ratio of around 1.25 kW of PV to 1 kW of inverter power
works well to make sure the PV is producing enough to keep the inverter output close to
its maximum efficiency and to get your money's worth out of your inverter and ac
components. If there is way too much PV to inverter the inverter the inverter will not be
able to use all of the potential power produced by the PV. That would be a waste of PV
in some cases, but the inverter will only use as much as it is rated for so having a high
PV to inverter ratio is not dangerous. Some people use a PV to inverter ratio as high as
2:1. This can also be called an ILR for inverter load ratio. When the PV could have
produced more with a larger inverter, we call that missed power "clipping". It is often
considered a good design to allow for some clipping.
How can you ensure that you do not void the warranty of a tile roof when installing a PV
system? - Follow instructions provided by roof manufacturer
With a tile roof, just like with any roof, you need to follow manufacturer's instructions in
order to not avoid warranty. There may be different warranties involved, such as the
roof, the PV and the racking system. Walking on the supported part of the tile is
,something that roofers are experts at, but always look for the warranty question to have
a follow manufacturer's instruction kind of answer.
What is the proper slope of an extension ladder? - 1:4 slope is required for a ladder
according to OSHA. This means that for every 1 unit of distance towards you, the ladder
will go up 4 units of distance. Many people that use ladders say that if you are standing
with your feet at the base of a ladder and put your arms straight in front of you, if they
touch the ladder, that is about a 1:4 slope. Note: If you use the length of the ladder from
where it touches the ground to the roof for the "4" part of 1:4 that is what it says in the
OSHA regulations, but most tests have it the other way, but the difference in the angle
of the ladder is very small. This part of the triangle is called the hypotenuse.
What do you often see in a solar service agreement (SSA) to ensure system
performance? - 1:4
A solar service agreement can be a power purchase agreement (PPA) or a solar lease.
As for ensuring performance, remote monitoring is very important. If you want to go
beyond the scope of this exam and course, you may learn more about this at:
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/why-solaras-a-service-is-not-going-
away-anytime-soon Be aware that this article was written by a solar financial service
provider, which may have opinions in it. I have always liked them. (There is another type
of service in electrical terms that you should know and that is an electrical service,
which is where the utility "serves" you electricity, through the "service conductors".
Voltage drop of conductors is based on: - The length and diameter of the conductor
Voltage drop is calculated by using ohm's law, which states V=IR. To determine V for
voltage drop, we will need to know the current and the resistance of the wire I. To
calculate R, we need to know the properties of the conductor. A thicker wire has less
resistance (better for carrying current) and a shorter wire has less resistance that a
longer wire. To reduce voltage drop, someone should reduce the length or increase the
width of the wire. A more advanced topic is voltage drop percentage and this topic is not
needed to answer this question. Voltage drop is how much voltage you lose on a wire.
Voltage drop percentage is calculated by determining how much voltage you lose to:
how much voltage you have. A lot of times PV systems have somewhere in the
neighborhood of 1 to 3% voltage drop percentage, which means they are losing 1-3% of
their power due to voltage drop (wire loss). As PV modules go down in price, it is more
reasonable to save money on wire and have more voltage drop. Also, recall that Volts x
Amps = Watts, so a decrease in voltage drop percentage is the same as power loss
percentage. Using a transformer to increase voltage, while decreasing current is
another strategy for decreasing voltage drop and voltage drop percentage. High voltage
and low current has less power losses, but has a tendency to be more sparky.
Which is the best solution of the following for multiple orientations when designing a PV
system? - Microinverter
,A Microinverter will do maximum power point tracking on a PV module level, so that the
PV source circuit is one module. Every module will work independently. Dc-to-dc
converters (power optimizers) can also have maximum power point tracking on a PV
module level. Note: It is possible to have 2 or 3 modules in series with a microinverter,
which may be more common in the future. Some microinverters can work with 4
modules, which are not in series and each have their own MPP.
Standard Testing Conditions (STC) temperature is: - 25C Cell Temperature
STC is 25C cell temperature, 1000 watts per square meter irradiance and 1.5 Air Mass.
You should know this by memory. Note: All other testing conditions (such as NOCT,
PTC and PVUSA) temperature is 20C ambient, which is actually a hotter cell
temperature than 25C, since the cells will often heat up around 30C hotter than ambient
when in the sun.
Which code must be complied with for PV installs? - NEC Article 690
NEC (National Electrical Code) Article 690 Photovoltaic Systems contains the electrical
installation rules used for PV systems in the USA and other places. The other articles of
the NEC must also be adhered to in the NEC. For instance, Article 705 Interconnected
Power Production Sources is used when connecting to the utility and Article 310
Conductors for General Wiring is used for wire sizing of PV systems. The NEC is also
known as NFPA 70. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is an
international standard and is not intended to be a code that is followed like a rule book,
such as the NEC. UL 1741 is the standard for testing electronic equipment used in PV
systems, such as inverters. IEEE (Institute or Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is
also a standards organization.
Which level has the authority over enforcement of the NEC usually? - Local
The Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) that usually interprets the NEC and approves
the permits is the local city or county building department. There are some exceptions,
such as when doing a project on a federally owned property, you may have the federal
government being the AHJ. Also, in some cases, such as a mobile home, you may have
the state as the AHJ. Check your local rules. The NFPA just writes the NEC and does
not enforce it. You could also say that the utility is the AHJ when it comes to the
interconnection. Here is from the NEC: 90.4 Enforcement. This Code is intended to be
suitable for mandatory application by governmental bodies that exercise legal
jurisdiction over electrical installations, including signaling and communications
systems, and for use by insurance inspectors. The authority having jurisdiction for
enforcement of the Code has the responsibility for making interpretations of the rules,
for deciding on the approval of equipment and materials, and for granting the special
permission contemplated in a number of the rules.
Undersized PV array - Decreases battery life
, Decreased array size decreases battery life (due to not charging battery fully). Not fully
charging a lead-acid battery often is not good for the battery. This is not the case for
lithium-ion batteries. Lead-acid batteries get lead-phosphate crystals building up on the
plates when they do not receive a full charge often.
Why do we need to know the lowest expected temperature? - Prevent over voltage
Lower temperatures cause higher PV voltages. If the location gets very cold, we will not
be able to connect as many modules in series as if we were in a location that never was
cold. You can put more modules in series in Hawaii than you can in Alaska.
What does a hydrometer measure? - Specific gravity of battery acid
A hydrometer measures specific gravity of battery acid. The specific gravity of water is
defined as 1 and a fully charged battery has a specific gravity of about 1.265. A
hydrometer looks a bit like what is known in some circles as a turkey baster. Hydro =
fluid Meter = measure
Concentrated PV - Only works with direct sunlight
Concentrated PV only works with direct sunlight. Also concentrated PV usually works
with 2-axis trackers that always point at the sun and will not work at all during cloudy
conditions. We need direct sunlight, so we can focus sunbeams to make concentrating
solar technologies work. Many people confuse concentrating PV with concentrating
solar thermal. PV is converting sunlight directly to electricity, whereas thermal is working
with heat. Concentrating PV is very rare, especially since solar cells have gone down in
price over the last 2 decades. Concentrating solar thermal is not as rare, but not
common.
What is the NEC for? - Practical safeguarding of persons and property
Here is the explanation of what the NEC is for right out of the beginning of the NEC:
NEC 90.1 Purpose. (A) Practical Safeguarding. The purpose of this Code is the
practical safeguarding of persons and property from hazards arising from the use of
electricity. This Code is not intended as a design specification or an instruction manual
for untrained persons. Practical safeguarding of persons and property does include
installation of conductors, PV systems and interconnections, but the NEC is not an
installation manual. The NEC is not concerned about efficiency, just safety.
A performance guarantee is: - Something that can be spelled out in the fine print of a
solar service agreement, such as a PPA or a solar lease and often tells a minimum of
how much energy you should expect from your system.
A performance guarantee is based on what a PV system will produce and not to be
confused with a solar module warranty. This performance guarantee may also depend
on ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M) from an approved provider. If you do
