II: Personal Pathway w/ Solar Energy:
i. Setting the Intention, December 2012 to February 2013:
I was in Bocas del Toro, Panamá.. far away from home during the holidays, which always feels odd. I also felt like I was biding my time. In that, my intuition is calling me to the ecological redesign of human habitat. Of course, the islands were amazing. However, while planting guanábana trees in a garden consisting of 3-toed sloths and howler monkeys high in tropical trees, I knew that I would return home, and wanted to have something to look forward to that would serve my goals, my personal learning pathway and my career.
I discovered the test, NABCEP, the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. To me it was a way to stack functions. I would have vocational training, advancement in my MSc, progress in my path to become an Ecological Design Consultant, and a new skill set after taking this course and the exam. There are many options to qualify for the NABCEP, including Solar Energy International and the Solar Living Institute. However, these options are usually over $1,000. The course that I discovered was a mere $175 in comparison. This course also served as the content course requirement for the capstone phase of the MSc program with Gaia U.
The decision to take the course coincided with moving back home. As I have expressed in previous output packets, I was completing another cycle of awayness at this time. The Bay Area is a magnet of friends, family and culture for me. This is a magnet that calls me when I am away, and a place that I often wonder why I have left it when I am gone.
ii. CEM-162 SP, February 2013 to June 2013:
Construction and Energy Management (CEM) 162 is a course offered at Cabrillo College in the Monterey Bay Area. It was held on Wednesday evenings from 6-9pm, as well as hand's-on Saturdays. There were people studying solar as 'just another class,' older people studying solar because they had lost their jobs, Hispanic people studying solar in hopes of better jobs, and myself, studying solar as an integral part of an independent MSc program and as a cohesive part of my Ecological Design business.
The textbook for the class was entitled Photovoltaic Systems and it covers every aspect of solar energy, from raw materials, to state rebate programs to batteries and installation. An outcome of this class is that I qualified to take the NABCEP entry-level examination. I recently found out that I passed this test.
The course was cut 24 hours from the last time it was offered. As each class was 3 hours, this created 8 class sessions less than the previous semester. California, as well as the rest of the United States, is going through severe fiscal crisis, which usually results in education and other public services being cut. It was unfortunate in this case because the school literally had brand new facilities that were left mostly unused. We would meet in the classroom to go over slideshows; meanwhile, the warehouse filled with modules, racks and rooftops would sit quietly at the end of the hallway.
A solution to the problem of having a lack of hand's-on experience in the class was Grid Alternatives.
iii. Grid Alternatives, June 2013 to Present:
Grid Alternatives is a non-profit that utilizes California State funding to provide solar energy systems to low-income families. Two representatives from Grid Alt. came to our classroom to give a presentation. Attending the presentation granted access to the volunteer calendar, on which I am able to request to attend solar installations around the Greater San Francisco Bay Area.
I first went to an install in Seaside, CA, where there was a steep roof. We always have a safety meeting first thing in the morning to cover the install and how to operate the tools. I remember sitting on top of the roof and seeing the fog roll in over the hills of the Monterey Peninsula as I did the math for the angle of the conduit bend to arch over the apex of the roof. We used Enphase micro-inverters to run an A/C line directly into the main service panel. The install lasted 3 days and I had the opportunity to visit my Father who lives in the area.
The second install that I attended was in San Francisco, CA. This was a 2-story house in a dense urban setting on hills with access to the roof via a tall ladder from the sidewalk. . It was nice to reconnect with the city, as I used to live there and I feel at home there. Rather than using micro-inverters, we used a wall-mounted inverter on the inside of the garage on the street level next to the main service panel. During this install, one of the supervisors was blatantly sexist, and there were tools missing, which caused us to delay and leave early. Unfortunately, I have encountered sexism and homophobia all too often in the construction related trades. On the second day, when we had to call the job off early yet again due to a lack of tools, the ladder fell onto the circle of volunteers, giving one volunteer a concussion and fracturing another's shoulder! I was lucky enough to have been working inside the garage on the inverter at the time.
The third install that I attended was in Oakland, CA. This install was very straightforward and enjoyable. The roof was flat and there was a great view of the bay and the peninsula across the bay. Since the roof was flat, we had to use a tilt mount racking system, which includes extension mounts connected to the flashings in order to create the appropriate angle. During this install, I had the opportunity to visit my older brother and my sister-in-law, who have a new baby boy, my nephew, Felix Sage Fox. It was great to visit them and to meet my nephew for the second time.
At all of the installs, I practice lots of techniques and familiarize myself with the tools and the trade. I practice conduit bending, which is actually quite difficult and requires lots of thought and applied mathematics. I practice wiring techniques, such as grounding, junction boxes and circuit breaker connections. I also practice for exams on the job site, inquiring about codes and regulations to electricians.
One outcome of working with Grid Alternatives that is important is job training. The supervisor of the first install told me that he had to pay over $2,500 for solar job training in Las Vegas. I am happy to be acquiring my solar job training on a volunteer basis and in an educational environment where I can visit family and network with other professionals in the field.
It feels great to be on the job site with solar energy. It also feels really good to know that we are reducing the monthly bills of the people who need it most. As these are low-income families, the extra money saved with the reduced electricity bill has a large impact. I am excited to integrate photovoltaics into my Ecological Design business and to lead installs in the future with my own licensed company. I have scheduled to attend the meeting to become a Team Leader with Grid Alternatives, and I hope to continue to develop my knowledge of solar energy.
Team Leader Training, September 24th 2013:
I had another opportunity to connect with my family as well as advance my solar career at the Team Leader Training for Grid Alternatives. As a team leader, I will now act as a facilitator between the site supervisor and the volunteers during future solar installs. In addition, I am able to have various skills verified by the supervisor. After multiple installs as a team leader, my goal is to become qualified to act as a supervisor on residential solar installs. This will improve the services that I can personally offer to home/business owners as an independent designer, as well as provide desirable work experience on my resume.
iv. InterSolar North America, July 9th-11th, 2013:
At times it is very interesting being a "Permaculture Designer" in the realm of solar. Especially at events such as the largest annual solar gathering in the country, which is what InterSolar North America is. It was in San Francisco, and I had a free student badge through CEM-162. I later found out that the 3-day pass was worth over $900! My pass didn't give me access to the lectures, but there was plenty to see at the booths and the job fair. I came prepared with pressed clothes, dress shoes and a tie, plus a pocket full of business cards. I have learned diligence in self-presentation although I am often living out of my car and staying on friend’s couches while traveling. Through this process, I unlearned my adolescent tendency to not care about how I presented myself, thinking that anyone who cared about image was judgmental, and therefore, not worth my time anyway. I created business cards based on the advise of my first private Permaculture Design client who told me that I really needed cards. I am grateful for her encouragement, and I'm also glad that I chose to put "Solar Energy" on the cards at the time.
Overall, I am happy that I took the time to make it to San Francisco and to the conference. I now have access to multiple solar energy magazine subscriptions and online databases that I otherwise would not have. The experience was also an opportunity to network and connect as an Independent Ecological Designer, rather than a representative of a company, which made me feel confident in my pathway.