Until the past few years, when generous government incentives began to kick in, most solar electric system applications were off-grid and remote in location. Solar power shines the brightest (pun intended!) in applications where the cost of bringing in other sources of power is too great. This explains the popularity of solar power in off-grid remote homes and cabins, and also explains why we relocated to a more remote area of our state to fully pursue this line of work.

The emergence of "grid-tied" utility-interactive solar PV systems together with commercial incentives has completely changed the solar landscape in less than a decade's time.  While we learned much by pursuing off-grid systems for a while, I now realize that the real benefits to be obtained from solar power (and the engineering challenges as well) lie elsewhere. And, as I've also learned as both a solar PV designer and energy measurement specialist, solar is not always the best (sometimes not even a good) answer, when trying to achieve the real, long term benefits of reduced fossil fuel consumption. One has to look at the problem from a much broader viewpoint - including generation, transmission, and storage efficiences, equipment and structure life cycles, and also the adverse environmental and resource burdens that arise when scaling up a particular renewable energy source in a major way. Otherwise, we risk fooling ourselves economically while not realizing any meaningful environmental benefit when all is said and done.

While I recognize the inevitability of what is referred to as "peak oil", my experience allows me to see another factor that is quite significant, but apparently missed by most. The amount of energy that is going to waste (or grossly underutilized) is so large, the ways in which to adapt and thrive with 30-50% less usage are so great, that the energy price mechanism will likely keep any peak oil crisis at bay well into the future. Energy will cost a good bit more, we'll use a good bit less, and lots of things may change, but we'll go on with our lives. New energy sources will help bridge the gap, but will take decades to become truly transformative in their own right.

These price-driven demand adjustments won't happen without a lot of help from technology, however. As an automation systems engineer, the challenges look inviting to me - integrating solar and other renewable energy sources into new distributed energy systems, taking full advantage of intelligent measurement and control, both on the generation and consumption ends of the wire.

I'm looking seriously at opportunities in this regard, knowing that the new cleantech industry is experiencing tremendous growth, and the need for experienced professionals is great and continues to expand. Instead of simply transitioning from residential off-grid solar into commercial solar PV engineering design (which is a viable option for me), I've put my solar activities on hold for a season. I'm waiting and looking for what I feel will be more interesting opportunities, in which my career-long measurement and automation skills can be brought into the mix as well. Business leaders and recruiters, if you've found this site while looking for talent along these lines, please feel free to download my resume from the link below, and contact me to discuss potential opportunities in more detail. We are open to temporary or permanent relocation depending upon specific circumstances.

Click here for John's Resume