Solar Mechanical Engineer

Mechanical Engineers work on a variety of projects. A wide range of objects from airplanes to computers to toys begin their design phase in the hands of Mechanical Engineers or Electrical Engineers. When a Mechanical Engineer takes a particular interest in creating, streamlining, and installing solar power systems, she’s referred to as a Solar Mechanical Engineer.

Although installing solar systems is still an expensive venture, people are using it more and more as a clean and reliable alternative to fossil fuels. This steady demand means that customers want new and improved options.

As a Solar Mechanical Engineer, you have many choices in your work environment. You can facilitate the process at a production plant, engineering firm, or laboratory. Your expertise in solar energy and mechanical engineering allows you to take the lead and manage the manufacturing processes. In this position, you watch for ways to improve the product and the system.

If the production plant isn’t your idea of a good time, you can put on your Solar Mechanical Engineer thinking hat at the design phase, where you use computer-aided design (CAD) software, graph paper, and bar napkins to sketch out your design ideas. Then you follow the idea through research, development, prototype building, and testing.

Another task you tackle is finding ways to improve existing systems. After all, the more power you can get out of a system, the better. So you don your mad Scientist cap and calculate production, angle of the sun, and improvements to storage system capacities.