Solar Energy Engineer Career
Solar Energy Engineer Career
The Real Poop
Pros: Being the savior of penguins, polar bears, and basically the earth.
Cons: Maybe getting a sunburn.
It's not hard to see why people might want to get into the field of solar energy. Plants get their energy from sunlight after all, so why shouldn't we?
As an engineer, you could be installing solar panels on houses, pools, skyscrapers, office buildings, or factories. You could be drawing up blueprints for solar energy systems at the office. You could even end up inventing new ways to convert the sun's rays into energy—all in a day's work.
And if you're concerned about what kind of paycheck a weird job like "solar energy engineering" provides, sweep your money-related worries away. Solar energy engineers are paid, like, a minimum of $50,000 a year (source). People well into their careers can be paid around double that. That's a six-figure profession. Not bad at all.
You've got the basics, but you're probably still asking yourself, "So what? No one uses solar energy." (It's okay, everyone talks to themselves. We do at least, and the people in our head think we're super cool.) Think again, mi amigo. In 2009 alone the solar energy world expanded by 37% (source), and there's been a steep rise in solar energy consumption ever since (source). Okay, fine, so the U.S. only uses like 0.4% solar energy (source). But look on the bright side: That leaves a lot of room for improvement.
Generally, a solar energy engineer's main job is to understand energy efficiency and know how to harness sunshine to convert it into sustainable energy—the kind that could power your air and water heating systems, your pool heater, and maybe even your car (one day).
Solar energy engineers deal with all sorts of science-y and math-y things, so hopefully you were listening to your chemistry teacher when she introduced you to Bill Nye the Science Guy. And hopefully you didn't lose touch with that girl who aced AP Algebra, because you'll be using a lot of math-y smarts if you become a solar energy engineer.
The only downside to becoming the most environmentally conscious engineer ever is that the career field is rather small. It's not even really a field—it's more like a small corner lot in an urban neighborhood. Solar energy engineers are really good at one thing: solar energy. Unfortunately, solar energy is still "meh" on the energy popularity scale. What does that mean? It means (for the moment at least) that the U.S. is still kind of obsessed with burning and blowing things up for energy (how primeval).
That brings us to a very important point. To be successful in solar energy, you'll probably have to be somewhere where it's popularly implemented. California, Nevada, and North Carolina are some of the best places for it (source).
As a solar energy engineer, you're working toward building the future. Have you ever seen those sci-fi movies where hundreds of thousands of solar panels surround the hero's main base, or where there are fields of shiny blue squares on farmlands? Solar energy is clean and renewable. It's where most people hope we are headed.
So how do you get started? Well, let's start with studying up on your physics, chemistry, algebra, calculus, and geometry. Then you might want to think about applying to Ecotech Institute, Pennsylvania College of Technology, and Appalachian State University. After that you're off to wherever it's sunny.