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Certified Renewable Energy Professional (REP) exam — Information & Free Practice

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About Certified Renewable Energy Professional (REP) exam

Certified Renewable Energy Professional (REP) exam · US

Key exam facts

Provider
Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), responsible for the REP certification examination; ProctorU supplies remote proctoring.
Format
Multiple-choice; open book / open notes. In-person or remotely proctored delivery.
Time limit
4 hours of examination time.
Passing score
A passing certification examination result is required. A numeric passing threshold and score scale are not published in the current public REP Scheme 1.0, BoK 1.0 and REP requirements page reviewed.
Exam fee
United States: US$400 combined certification application and examination fee, nonrefundable; US$200 retest fee. Preparatory training is charged separately.

Topics covered

The authority publishes percentage ranges for each content area. The practice percentages below use the midpoint of each range, normalized to 100%; they are not exact percentages published by the authority. Practice question counts may differ slightly because of rounding.

  • Renewable Energy and Environmental Impacts — Official range: 6–10% (Practice allocation: 7.92%)

    • Policies and programs (Agenda 21 + Kyoto Protocol + Paris Agreement)
    • Impacts associated with renewable energy production
    • Comparative assessment of renewable to fossil fuels
    • Environmental Impact of Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy
    • Cost and benefits of Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy
    • Primary Energy Consumption Resources
    • Hubbert Peak
    • Impacts of Climate change
    • Approaches to atmospheric carbon mitigation
    • Carbon intensity of fuels
    • Calculating Carbon Emissions Reductions
    • Carbon Emissions and its impact , Carbon Footprints of Energy Applications
    • Carbon management
    • Sox, Nox, Particles, Hg
    • Green House Gases (GHG)
    • Solid Waste
    • Capacity Factors, Power Capacity Penetration

  • Solar Energy — Official range: 11–17% (Practice allocation: 13.86%)

    • Passive solar applications
    • Solar air, heating, cooking, storage, food drying, water distillation
    • High Temperature - Hot water, A/C, Domestic Hot Water - Solar, Thermal
    • Solar hot water heating
    • Solar PV electric generation
    • Concentrated Solar PV
    • Solar thermal electric generation (CSP)
    • Economics and feasibility
    • Calculating Annual Energy Production (AEP) for PV
    • Resource Evaluation PV, Thermal production, GHI Resource Map, DNI Resource Map
    • General Aspects of Mounting and Racking Tracking Systems
    • Pond/lake PV applications

  • Wind Energy — Official range: 10–16% (Practice allocation: 12.87%)

    • Small scale wind turbine generation (WTG) systems
    • Onshore wind energy technologies
    • Offshore wind farms
    • Economics and feasibility (Bentz Limit)
    • Vertical and Horizonal Turbines / Lift and drag
    • Mechanical applications of wind mills and pumps
    • Control Systems - pitching, yaw, emergency shutdown, turbine speed
    • Wind Resource (Map, Classes of Turbines, Wind Shear, risks, turbulence index, wind rose)
    • Calculating AEP
    • Resource Evaluation
    • Capacities and Limitations

  • Hydropower — Official range: 7–11% (Practice allocation: 8.91%)

    • Concept of generation technologies, hydropower basics and hydro resource
    • Large hydro systems
    • Hydro Resource (hydrology cycle, tidal, wave, OTEC)
    • Micro-hydro turbine technologies (low head systems)
    • Pumped storage
    • Estimating power output
    • Ocean Energy Systems (OTEC, Osmotic, Wave Energy, Tidal, Ocean Currents)
    • Economics and feasibility
    • Capacities and Limitations

  • Geothermal Energy — Official range: 6–10% (Practice allocation: 7.92%)

    • Resource Evaluations
    • Geothermal Energy of low enthalpy - Ground source, Heat pumps Applications, Cool tubes, DHW, Horizontal tubes, and Vertical tubes
    • Geothermal Energy of High enthalpy - Electric generation (Direct, flash, binary)
    • Economic and feasibility
    • Calculating Carnot efficiency
    • Geothermal resource
    • Capacities and Limitations

  • Biomass Energy — Official range: 6–8% (Practice allocation: 6.93%)

    • Biomass Resource
    • Biomass thermochemical processes: Combustion, Pyrolysis and Gasification
    • Biofuels (Bioethanol, Biodiesel, 2nd generation biofuel, algae)
    • Biogas anaerobic digesters, municipal solid waste (MSW)
    • Biological mechanical treatment (BMT)
    • Economics and feasibility
    • Capacities and Limitations

  • Waste-to-Energy Systems — Official range: 3–5% (Practice allocation: 3.96%)

    • Waste to energy systems (general)
    • Differences between thermal and non-thermal technologies
    • Waste fuels and their uses
    • Landfill gas and gas turbines and engines
    • Plasma-arc gasification processes (PGP)
    • Economics and feasibility
    • Waste Resource Applicability
    • Capacities and Limitations

  • Hydrogen Applications — Official range: 3–5% (Practice allocation: 3.96%)

    • Sources of Hydrogen
    • Transport and Storage of Hydrogen
    • Fuel cell technologies and micro turbines technologies
    • Differences between low, intermediate and high temperature systems
    • Applications of fuel cell technologies
    • Economics and feasibility
    • Pros and Cons
    • Capacities and Limitations

  • Hybrid Systems — Official range: 4–6% (Practice allocation: 4.95%)

    • Definition and types of hybrid energy systems
    • Benefits of hybrid energy systems
    • How to choose a hybrid system, schematic configurations
    • Pros and cons of a typical solar and wind power combination
    • Pros and cons of a typical pumped-storage and wind combination
    • Capacities and Limitations

  • Energy Storage — Official range: 6–8% (Practice allocation: 6.93%)

    • Types of energy storage (thermal, electrical)
    • Mechanical energy storage systems (pump storage, compressed air, fly wheel)
    • Electrical / electro chemical (compositors, batteries, fuel cells, grid storage)
    • Common Chemical energy storage systems (hydrogen, biofuels, fossil fuels)
    • Thermal energy storage systems (molten salt, seasonal)
    • Comparative capabilities of energy storage systems
    • Energy Storage Calculations
    • Transformation of energy
    • Capacities and Limitations

  • Alternative Energy Strategies for Buildings — Official range: 6–8% (Practice allocation: 6.93%)

    • Energy & Buildings (key terms, energy use, energy flows)
    • Site solutions to optimize alternative energy potential
    • Energy Efficiency & Energy Management
    • Measures of Energy Reduction
    • Demand-side conservation approaches
    • Rating Systems (LEED, Energy Star and others)
    • Integration of renewable energy and alternative energy technologies in buildings
    • Net zero energy and net-positive energy buildings

  • Transportation Systems — Official range: 3–5% (Practice allocation: 3.96%)

    • Strategies for sustainable transportation systems
    • Passive approaches to improving transportation
    • Renewable fuels used in vehicles (ethanol, bio-diesel, algae oil)
    • Gasification and synthetic fuel production for vehicles
    • Renewable electrification for vehicles
    • Hydrogen as a renewable fuel for vehicles
    • General concept programs for renewable transportation
    • Integration Transport and Power Generation Sector

  • Financing and Incentives for Alternative Energy — Official range: 6–10% (Practice allocation: 7.92%)

    • Government Renewable Energy Programs
    • Economic and financial approaches for project justification
    • Basic financial analysis and assessments
    • Life-cycle cost and levelized analysis methodologies
    • Bankability and Risk Assessment
    • Tax considerations (rates, depreciations, etc.)
    • Measurement and verification
    • Financing by combining approaches and incentives

  • Renewable Energy Application for Micro-grids — Official range: 2–4% (Practice allocation: 2.97%)

    • Fundamentals of Micro-grids
    • Central plants vs. distributed generation
    • Virtual Powerplants
    • Smart Grids
    • Smart Energy Networks
    • Interconnection requirements
    • Vehicle to Grid Storage Applications
    • Grid limitations
    • Design considerations such as intermittency and penetration limits

How to prepare

Work through the topics, read the explanation after each answer, and revisit the areas where you miss questions. Use the official outline and reference materials below to guide your study.

These independent practice questions are not actual exam items and do not guarantee a passing result.

Frequently asked questions

What is the exam format?

Multiple-choice; open book / open notes. In-person or remotely proctored delivery.

How long is the exam?

4 hours of examination time.

What is the passing score?

A passing certification examination result is required. A numeric passing threshold and score scale are not published in the current public REP Scheme 1.0, BoK 1.0 and REP requirements page reviewed.

How much does the exam cost?

United States: US$400 combined certification application and examination fee, nonrefundable; US$200 retest fee. Preparatory training is charged separately.

Official sources and references

Confirm current exam arrangements with the exam provider.