Solar Engineering - Many Questions!

Dachshund

I want to break into the solar industry. I've never worked in solar and I really know nothing about it.

To preface, I have a MS in mechanical engineering and just about 2 years experience in the power industry. I have my EIT license and would need 1 more year of work to get my PE. My work has been with a contracting company doing odd design and management jobs at sites around the country. I've been mostly to wind farms & combined cycle plants. Unfortunately, I haven't really gained all that much engineering experience; it's been mostly non engineering contracts that I've taken (mostly managing other contractors doing jobs).

On to solar related questions:

1. Readin'. I've been looking for some good books to get but haven't bought any yet. For textbooks, I've been directly via several websites to "Photovoltaic Systems" by James T Dunlop (Amazon link http://tinyurl.com/yljwal8) and "Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual" by Solar Energy International (Amazon link http://tinyurl.com/yf9hzos). Are these any good or are there better? My local libraries have shit.

2. Certification Board. In searching, I have stumbled upon this site: North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners at http://www.nabcep.org/. It appears to be certification for installation contractors, but also seems to have some engineering credentials as well. It looks like hogwash to me and I can't find any actual reviews of it. Are these guys a bunch of rubbish or are they actually useful? I am leaning HARD towards it being BS.

3. Job or more study. I'm positive that basically any job in the solar field will get me up to par right quick on the ins & outs of photovoltaics. I've found a few to apply to but haven't yet. They are mostly entry level, which I guess I am OK with. It would be a HUGE pay cut for sure (likely 30k+ cut) but I guess I can live with that since I don't really like working in combustion. Alternatively, I could to go school and focus on PVs. I've always wanted a PhD, but I would only sink another 2-3 years if I could study with some right badasses in the field. Where/how would I find said badasses? I really didn't do anything special to get into my MS program, just picked one (haha yep just 1), applied, and voila in I went.

3.b. Study abroad. I went to ABET accredited universities for my degrees. Are foreign programs recognized in a similar fashion? Will a foreign degree be useful in the US? There are a few particular universities that interest me. There is one in Sweden that looks pretty rad (and I am totally pro free school!) and of course Sweden is rad itself. If I describe Sweden as "rad" in my application will they be more likely to accept me? I do not speak anything but English unfortunately.

To sum up: I'm looking for any info on the solar industry and/or PhD programs to supplement my own searching. I've only just begun looking into this, so I have probably skipped a lot of obvious things. Also feel free to recruit me to work at your solar plant. My resume is kickin'

Usagi

I'm not in the solar energy business, but I am an engineer with a bit more experience than you and I'll offer the following advice:

-With an MS in ME and two years working as an ME, you probably won't get hired to do EE work, even at an entry level.
-More schooling might be interesting but will probably make you overtrained for the job that you're interested in.
-Getting you PE in ME isn't going to help you get a job in a primarily electrical field, unless you feel like designing installations.
-If it looks like hogwash it probably is.

That said, my suggestion would be to look into large companies that do solar work (i.e. photovoltaics is what you seem interested in) and apply there to do something else to start. Boeing, DOW Chemicals, General Electric and British Petroleum all have solar divisions, and you could start elsewhere and eventually make yourself known that way.

Also, if you're a member of ASME, look for group meetings in your area that are focused on alternative energy - or even better, join IEEE and do the same.

Orestes

If you're looking to get an engineering degree from another country recognised by the US, you might have to do a lot of research into that.

I know a ton of people with engineering degrees from Europe that can't even apply to be and EIT because they don't meet Canadian requirements. I'm sure the US has a similar sort of deal.

Also, most Universities (international universities) will speak English for their lectures and whatnot. Hell, even the Hong Kong International University does everything in English (albiet terrible english usually, but whatev's).

As well, the above is true. I've seen people move within companies from ME to EE, but that's over the course of 10 years or so, and that's because they were forced to work so closely with one another they learned.

And the best thing to do to learn about the website you linked would be to send someone listed on their website an e-mail or a shoot them a phonecall.

Dachshund

A VIP that I work with frequently has directed me to an opening at a photovoltaic site that I am "a shoe-in" for due to my past work with the company. They do not distinguish between EE and ME for the position, which I guess is because it only requires 2 years experience in the power industry.

I am still of course considering the phd route - likely in the US.

Gonna apply for the job and continue to research schools!

Orestes

It's good to hear you got a job!

It'd odd to hear that they don't consider EE and ME as a requirement, but that's most likely because they can teach you all the stuff you need to know.

As for school, I forgot to mention that Canada, and Germany both have EXTREAMLY good engineering schools and from what I've heard (this may or may not be true) much much more rigorious standards for engineers.

That being said, I'm assuming that if you take your engineering PhD in Canada or Germany, you shouldn't have that much of a problem getting it recognised in the US. (assuming being the key word, you still should check it out).

Pel

This is also a field I have a great deal of interest in, and many of the same questions as you. The only question I can answer with any degree of accuracy is 2: While AFAIK the NABCEP is the only major certification board for renewable energy, it's pretty much a racket. Unfortunately, a NABCEP certification is pretty much required to apply for government money. Also unfortunately, a NABCEP certification won't let you legally install an actual PV system because that would require a licensed electrician.

At least that's how I understand it to work here in Ohio.

grungebox

May be a little late to be useful, but NREL is definitely a place to look into for work on solar energy (and renewables in general).

Thanatos

I don't know how helpful this is, but Dow just announced a new kind of solar roofing tile. They may be hiring for the team working on them.