Solar Design Engineer

The sun isn’t just hot. It’s also big. It’s so big, in fact, that its diameter—865,000 miles—makes it large enough to fit nearly a million planet Earths inside it.

Something that big has got to be powerful, right? If you’re a Solar Design Engineer, you know better than anyone that the answer to that question is a firm and resounding, “Right!”

Employed by architecture, engineering, and design firms, as well as energy companies and solar equipment manufacturers, Solar Design Engineers are paid to help people and buildings harness the sun’s massive energy potential using solar photovoltaics.

Usually, that means designing, reviewing, and approving solar installations for commercial and industrial buildings, as well as government and utility projects. During a typical day, that requires conducting site evaluations—measuring sun exposure, shade, and wind, for instance—then using computer-aided design (CAD) software to design the size, scope, and specifications of ground- and roof-mounted solar installations.

In the golden age of green business, solar arrays are being installed everywhere from hotels and hospitals to corporate headquarters and city halls. No matter what type of building it is, however, your job as a Solar Design Engineer is to assess financial resources and energy needs, then to design solar installations based on clients’ unique goals, geography, real estate, and budgets.

Because solar arrays aren’t just plug and play, your engineering challenge ultimately is spending as little money and soaking up as much sun as possible—whether you’re in sunny Florida or in Alaska, where the sun only shines for a few hours a day in winter!