Who works with solar, wind or any alternative energies?

So my degree will be in sustainable technologies, who all has jobs of this nature? I am interested to see whats out there.

 

What I'm missing is why would someone zero in on any major before they knew the answer to your question?

 

Well that is an interesting field to me and is very broad, just why I am curious to see what jobs are available.

 

I get that.

I too think it would be interesting, and if not lucrative, potentially beneficial to at least 3rd world societies if social good is of interest to you.

Curious, is it a variant of some form of engineering degree? Only folks I've known in on the degreed side of this, in solar, wind, or alternative fuel generation have been electrical, mechanical or civil (although I'm sure there are others)

But my point was the cart before the horse.

When I picked my major, it was interesting to me AND I knew what the job market looked like, and was projected to be upon graduation. How far away are you from that? What happens if the answer comes back limited? Does your school have any job placement counselors/staff that can assist you with some research?

 

Yeah I could see the cart being ahead. It is not engineering but that would be beneficial and open more doors. I like the social aspect of sustainability and alternative energies though they are not cheap they are cheaper and getting cheaper by the year that fossil fuels.

 

Alternate energy will just keep getting bigger and bigger in the future , thats pretty much a given

 

BUMP!!! Really getting into my field now, photovoltaic, wind and hydro classes. Also taking intro to fabrication and welding next semester.

 

What kind of jobs are you hoping for?

I work in Solar, I'm the head foreman for a larger solar installer in the Salt Lake area. From my standpoint, which is on the labor side of this industry, most workers here have qualifications from other industries at this point in time. We have very few people who are actually educated in anything relating to renewable energy. Most of us use on the job training resources and continuing education programs to further qualify ourselves, but few of us have pre-employment education in renewable energy. I have a degree that relates to welding/fabrication and automotive diagnostics, and am currently finishing a business administration degree.

The other main focuses that we employ are salespeople, and designers, who are mostly qualified as electrical drafters.

Although my company is in the business of installing these products, not really much in the engineering or conceptual parts of the industry.

Dunno if this helps you at all. But it seems like what you are looking for is more on the conceptual side of things.

 

So with my degree I have both theoretical and practical applications of renewable energies. I am in welding currently and have taken classes ranging from construction to CAD to environmental ethics, so a very broad range with some technical training incorporated. Was just mainly curious to what people were doing in this field and it seems like more are doing hands on like general contraction on a construction site. What part of the country are you in?

 

I think you're right about the industry being mostly dominated by contractors and builders at the moment. The company I work for is basically an electrical contractor, since we have to hold electrical licenses and pass electrical building inspections. I live in the Salt Lake City, Utah area and my company works all over Utah and Idaho. We handle residential and commercial installations and we are currently expanding into other markets in the Pacific Northwest, and the west.

As far as I understand many of the less critical parts we use are made here in the US and Canada. Some of the panels we install are even assembled here too. So there is a manufacturing side to the industry in addition to the construction/contracting side. However most of the critical parts are manufactured offshore, for both cost and environmental reasons. Clean manufacturing of Solar panels can be touchy given the materials required. I'm sure much of the conceptual and design parts are done domestically, but the most of the actual solar cells are of Asian origin.

Just a little more food for thought.

 

Yes, solar is not the cleanest form of renewable energies. Maybe soon it will be.

 

BUMP, Anyone out there?

 

I work in the power industry. I’ll be honest, when I see resumes from new graduates with degrees in sustainability systems or sustaibable technologies, there’s usually nothing I can do with them.

It’s great that you're interested in renewable technologies, but these kinds of degrees are too generalized for most companies. Examples: Companies that design and build solar panels need licensed engineers to do their design and manufacturing. Companies that build wind turbines (think GE and others) are hiring engineers. Even companies that sell and install solar panels to retail customers are looking for people trained in electric utility work.

Most of the graduates I’ve kept track of with degrees like yours end up in sales. Cold calling, knocking on doors, etc. selling solar panels or other products. There’s nothing wrong with this if that’s what you want to do, but you don’t need a college degree to become a salesman.

The best thing you can do is a Job board search of the companies you’re interested in working for. See what degrees they’re hiring. All power companies hire engineers, accountants, economists, HR professionals, business analysts, computer scientists, and the like. I find it’s better to specialize in one area because in the real world, you’re going to be working on very specific projects that require just a few skills.

 

Not sure how I'm only seeing this now. I went to school for mechanical and manufacturing in Ireland but knew of a solar installer starting up out here in Phoenix so jumped shipped (Never finished my degree).
During my 7 years there I went from being a being an installer, to crew lead, to designer then to design team manager. Reached my cap to decided to get into utility scale solar and started working with integrators designing medium voltage power conversion stations for 100MW+ sites.
Fast forward to today and I am a project manager for a utility scale inverter manufacturer who is currently in the top 3 slotted for all utility scale projects in North America and Mexico. I also co-own a solar O&M business in AZ.
People I work with at this level have mechanical, electrical or sustainable degrees so I would recommend you stay with it. I mostly hear about sustainability when people are describing the project development side of things (pre-engineering) as well as business development.
You may already do it, but if you don't, read SolarPro magazine. It comes out every month and gives you an very in depth look at what is happening and changing in the industry. It also tells you who the big players are should you want to do some research on where to apply after school.

 

Great to hear from you! I am still with the degree, I should be finishing this time next year. I will have Sustainable Technology BS with Sustainable development minor and a certificate in GIS.

 

Oh and I plan on heading back out west so I will be looking for an Internship this time next year.

 

@RPS1030

 

if your looking for a job that pays very good money Natural Gas Industry is the way to go, Solar,Wind types energy jobs are not as well paying as Natural Gas Industry they pay very well above even normal Union wages.

 

Solar pays extremely well if you get in with a developer, EPC, supplier or any type of firm. If you are a tradesman or working as a sub contractor onsite, then you will be subjected to the typical union wages.

 

I work as a tradesman onsite and get above what my Union prevailing wage is just because im working on a Natural gas project