☀️ A day in the life of a solar field technician at Sunrun
☀️ A day in the life of a solar field technician at Sunrun
When the MCJ community asked about amplifying the voices of frontline workers at the helm of rewiring our infrastructure… we listened. Yesterday we officially launched our new Skilled Labor Series with host Yin Lu. We’re excited to feature folks on the My Climate Journey podcast who are in the skilled labor workforce because they are a critical piece to our shared clean energy future.
In our first episode, Yin spoke to Andy Martinez who works as a PV field performance technician at Sunrun. As a field technician, his responsibilities include repairing, installing, replacing, and servicing different systems and equipment. Andy is passionate about solar, troubleshooting issues, and ultimately helping people with this renewable energy source.
Sometimes people give me high fives. Sometimes people give me water. They give me a bunch of things just to say thank you. That's cool. It's those little things that I strive for that mean so much. - Andy Martinez
Beyond sharing his experience on the podcast, Andy was kind enough to bring us on a ride along to get a better understanding of his day-to-day and what brings him joy in his work.
Andy is typically out the door by 6am, contacting customers, confirming appointments, and swinging by the main warehouse to grab materials. His first appointment on this particular day involved replacing a failed inverter, which he claims is a relatively easy process. While replacing a failed unit might seem unfortunate, the manufacturer makes the warranty process easy and convenient. Once the new inverter is installed and turned on, it runs through a wake up process that takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Andy uses this time to clean up, speak to the homeowner, walk through his work, and answer any questions.
Next up, Andy investigated a system that was under producing. He discovered a 2-panel array that was wired backwards, and safely fixed the issue. Andy was thoroughly trained by Sunrun to detect problems like this so every customer’s system operates at 100% and feeds the grid.
Andy’s 3rd appointment was perhaps the easiest of the day. After arriving at the customer’s house, Andy discovered that the system was simply turned off. He turned it back on, waited for it to complete the wake up process, and soon his customer was fully running on solar.
And finally, Andy’s most important appointment of the day. This one cannot be missed under any circumstance. Andy walks his adorable pup Nala to her favorite pond where she loves to take in the view, which also happens to include two solar homes that Andy had the pleasure of working on.
While his ride along merely scratches the surface of what it’s like to be a field worker, we’re excited that Andy and our debut co-host, Sam Steyer, are participating in an MCJ Ask-Me-Anything starting today. They’ll be covering all of your solar and skilled labor questions in the #c-mcj-ama channel. Don’t miss it!
✍️ The Draw-down
Weekly climate art by our MCJ Artist-in-Residence, Nicole Kelner.
🍿 The Lean Back
Learn about Noya in the latest Pique Action film.
🎙My Climate Journey Podcast
📢 Jason talked with Dr. Genevieve Guenther, author, activist, and Founding Director of End Climate Silence. Her unique background offers a different perspective on many of the topics we cover on the My Climate Journey podcast.
🚗 Cody caught up with Khaled Hassounah, CEO and Co-Founder of Ample, about how his company is accelerating the transition to electric mobility by offering an entirely electric energy delivery system for EVs that is as fast and convenient as filling up a tank of gas.
✨ Highlights
👩💻 Climate Jobs
For more open positions, check out the #j-climatejobs channel in MCJ Slack as well as past newsletters.
Aclymate is hiring a Director of Marketing to help businesses become climate leaders. (Denver, CO)
Arcadia is looking for a Lifecycle Marketing Manager to join their efforts in empowering energy innovators and consumers to fight the climate crisis. (Remote)
FloodMapp is hiring a Head of Operations who is passionate about helping communities adapt to a changing climate and flooding. (US/Remote)
Kodama is hiring several positions including Software Engineers (Full Stack), Autonomy Systems Engineers, Robotics Engineers and more to develop technology to improve climate resilience and carbon storage in forests. (Various)
Macro-Eyes is hiring an Optimization Scientist to design/build optimization models for the company’s core product. (Remote)
OnePointFive is looking for a part-time Community Experience & Growth Manager and Strategy & Operations Manager. (Remote)
Raptor Maps is looking for a Commercial Operations Associate to scale solar. (Remote)
Remora is hiring a People Operations Lead who will onboard and support talent working on carbon capture for semi-trucks. (Various East Coast/Remote)
SALT is hiring a Marketing Intern to help with a series of projects that aim to close the $100 Trillion climate financing gap. (Europe/Remote)
Terra.do is hiring a Community Associate to help 100 million people work on climate solutions this decade. (Remote)
🗓 October Events
For more climate events, check out the #c-events channel in MCJ Slack.
🔥 MCJ Climate Tech Boston Meetup: A casual get-together for climate-minded folks to mingle. (10/05)
👋 MCJ Community Welcome Call: Connect, share and learn with other MCJ-ers. (10/06)
🤝 MCJ Career Transitions Meetup: Casual monthly event designed to build a network of individuals who can learn from and support each other in their new roles. (10/19)
🍻 Seattle MCJ x WorkOnClimate Meetup: For folks in the area who want to connect around climate solutions. (10/10)
🧠 MCJ Monthly Idea Jam! This month, our focus is on Financial Services. Come along, listen, and share your thoughts. (10/21)
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