In the vast majority of cases, designers will send their array layouts to the racking company, who will then create a racking structure for them. Though designers do not need to be experts on racking, they need to be familiar with it. Electrical issues are easier to overcome.
Typically, the structural engineer is one of the first people sent out to asses a building (always on a commercial site but very rarely on a residential site), because most commonly, the structural integrity of the building is one of the few things that will stop a solar project. They will be communicating with the engineer regularly. The system designer will need to be familiar with the terms and processes of the structural engineers and what documentation is needed to pull the building permit in a specific area. Solar designers never perform structural work, though they do need to be familiar it, because the decisions they make regarding modules, racking and fastening mechanisms, will affect the structural loads on the building. Electric Codeĭesigners need to be very familiar with code, as these individuals are typically responsible for creating the three line diagrams and evaluating open circuit voltage, as well as formulating others array layout calculations that the inspector or engineer will be double checking. The reality is that you can side-step your way into any industry through a relationship. If you do not, and need to learn and cultivate your skills, so focus on the smaller companies. Here’s the key: if you have an engineering background, it’ll be easier for you to get into a large company.
#SOLAR SYSTEM DESIGNER HOW TO#
I’ve seen plenty of self-taught designers, and even people who majored in philosophy, learn how to design a system. In reality, this is not absolutely needed to learn the skills.
Most large companies like to hire workers with engineering backgrounds. Today, a plethora of software exist for production modeling. Why? Because the customer wants to get the most production for the least cost on their roof and investors need to make sure that the systems will create the power that was estimated (as financial returns are often based on production amounts.) For this reason, many property owners will hire an engineer to double check the designer’s work. Now that the industry is growing and systems are getting larger and larger, production modeling, (specifically comparing the performance and cost of different layouts and pieces of equipment) is critical.
With that in mind, here is an overview of what a good designer needs to know… Production Modeling Inform the installation crew what to expect.Īn efficient site visit process will lead to smooth operations and profitable jobs, while a messy or complicated visit can lead to confusion and subpar work.Performing high quality and efficient site visits is absolutely critical to the success of profitable and well designed solar projects, especially residential projects! During these visits, you need to be able to capture all of the information you need to It’s also a critical aspect to the success of a company - bad design can waste time and money and produce suboptimal systems. On the flip side, one design engineer can support a large number of projects. The design team is one critical element to every company, so most of them do it in-house. Smaller companies tend to do the installation internally but also tend to work on smaller jobs so the labor is less variable.
They tend to have sales forces too, and more and more of them (in Massachusetts, anyway) are subbing out the specialized engineering and installation labor completely while keeping their own project managers. One unique thing about companies specializing in solar is this: they understand incentives and how to design systems very well. For the sake of this article, we’ll be writing from the Northeast perspective. However, many companies in the Colorado area combine these roles into a “project engineer.” Thus, one project engineer will follow a job from the beginning to completion and handle all of the site visits, paperwork, design work, and labor management. What is it that solar PV designers do? What are their responsibilities and what’s required of them?įirst, it’s important to note that there is are geographical differences between solar PV designer responsibilities. In the Northeast quadrant of the United States, the designer and project manager have separate roles.
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