<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Green energy projects bloom in California]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Delay And Deny http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:24:02 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/1 It takes a lot of BS to make the flowers grow.


You know my opinion.

I don't believe in it...but if it makes people happy and gives them good jobs...then go ahead.

Restore the Kuomintang!


]]> It takes a lot of BS to make the flowers grow.


You know my opinion.

I don't believe in it...but if it makes people happy and gives them good jobs...then go ahead.

Restore the Kuomintang!


]]> Comment #2 by sunflower http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:44:09 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/2 I agree with turd blossom

There is a quality difference between promoting pv and actually fostering a low-carbon economy.    

There are well educated leaders of soft energy in Colorado.  Please seek their advice on the economics of thermal dynamics.

]]> I agree with turd blossom

There is a quality difference between promoting pv and actually fostering a low-carbon economy.    

There are well educated leaders of soft energy in Colorado.  Please seek their advice on the economics of thermal dynamics.

]]> Comment #3 by amazingdrx http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 04:02:52 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/3 23 cents per kwh for solar

Wisconsin Electric is paying 23 cents per kwh to it's customers who generate solar power for the grid.

That move and government orders to spur mass production, but not only mass production, mass production of the best technology.  That is important.  Just as the government chose to go with the Jeep in WW 2.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

]]> 23 cents per kwh for solar

Wisconsin Electric is paying 23 cents per kwh to it's customers who generate solar power for the grid.

That move and government orders to spur mass production, but not only mass production, mass production of the best technology.  That is important.  Just as the government chose to go with the Jeep in WW 2.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

]]> Comment #4 by Pangolin http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:23:35 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/4 Um, really?

If somebody could point me to some kind of link where a person otherwise unqualified might get into the solar field I might believe it. I have yet to find such a resource other than one-day, cash cow seminars.

The mythical "alternative energy jobs" are still few and far between enough that they go to people who already have an inside track. If there was an actual solar jobs program at a community college it would be mobbed. People hate the corporate slavery they are trapped in now.

Put the Carbon Back

]]> Um, really?

If somebody could point me to some kind of link where a person otherwise unqualified might get into the solar field I might believe it. I have yet to find such a resource other than one-day, cash cow seminars.

The mythical "alternative energy jobs" are still few and far between enough that they go to people who already have an inside track. If there was an actual solar jobs program at a community college it would be mobbed. People hate the corporate slavery they are trapped in now.

Put the Carbon Back

]]> Comment #5 by bookerly http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:32:03 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/5 Umm, Yeah


  I agree with Pangolin, who is getting all these jobs?  Are they going to the working poor?  Do the companies practice affirmative action (for females and minorities)?

  I saw articles about shortages of wind power technicians, but it seemed like all of the pictures were of white guys.

  Is all of this activity going to occur only in the suburbs?

patrick in Beijing

]]> Umm, Yeah


  I agree with Pangolin, who is getting all these jobs?  Are they going to the working poor?  Do the companies practice affirmative action (for females and minorities)?

  I saw articles about shortages of wind power technicians, but it seemed like all of the pictures were of white guys.

  Is all of this activity going to occur only in the suburbs?

patrick in Beijing

]]> Comment #6 by JohnMashey http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:42:54 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/6 John Mashey

SolarCity, http://www.solarcity.com/ , does a lot of installations around here.  I've talked to their CEO Lyndon Rive, who emphasized the importance of building and retaining a good workforce, and talked about how to do that.

Elon Musk is the chairman,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk .

Here's SolarCity's overall jobs page:
http://www.solarcity.com/tabid/71/Default.aspx
which includes various sales jobs.

Here's the jobs page for installers:

http://solarcity.com/Default.aspx?tabid=184

Here's the entry position:
PV Installer

This is a great position for construction workers, roofers, electricians who want to get started in the solar industry.

Required skills/experiences
    * No specific PV experience required. However, knowledge of electrical installation, roofing, and general construction is required.
    * Willing to be learn about PV solar electric systems installations

General Qualifications
    * The below qualifications are required for all of the above positions
    * Must have excellent customer relation skills
    * Must be very organized, and be able to meet aggressive timelines
    * Willing to do residential, commercial & service work
    * Willing to work in extreme environments (hot sun, high places/roofs & crawl spaces).
    * Be able to lift at least 100 pounds and not afraid of roof top heights
    * Must have a clean valid drivers license
Benefits:
    * Paid vacation.
    * Medical, dental, and vision.
    * Stock options

They were here doing a mass install in our (little) town:
http://www.solarcity.com/Default.aspx?tabid=200

I used to bump into their installers at the local deli, and talk to them, as there were usually several trucks' worth there at lunch every day for months, and talking to the real workers is always a great way to assess a company.  I have no firsthand experience with their hiring practices.

In general, they were enthusiastic about the company and seemed to enjoy what they were doing.  Of course, 6-8 people is hardly a large sample, and there were no women, although given the modest percentages in construction, that's unsurprising.  

Most were Hispanic, of various skin shades, so if all such count as "white guys", that's what they were, if it matters to somebody.

The website shows recent installations, and residential installations are mostly in suburbs ... but what would one expect?

Houses in suburbs:
usually have enough roof space/family to be useful, which tends to be less true for denser housing, although new (low) condo/apartment complexes are tending to get built with solar builtin, which is easier.  In towns around here, single-family house's roofs are big enough to have a fighting chance to cover electricity bills, and maybe leave something for PHEV.  Some people are building outright ZEHs.

have higher rates of ownership versus rental, which makes it more likely that someone will buy,

on the San Francisco Peninsula, even places called cities are really more like suburbs,

and in this case, have a lot of fairly wealthy owners who are also early adopters and can afford the upfront capital costs. On the other hand, the least expensive area around here is East Palo Alto, and Clarum has built some ZEH's or near-ZEHs there with integrated PV, one of the things needed to get the prices down, along with volume and more efficient PV materials. There is also solar going in in less expensive places, in the East Bay and Central Valley.

Housing in real cities, with large vertical condo/apartment complexes, is nontrivial to retrofit, especially because it is difficult for an individual owner/renter to say "I want to go solar."  Also, shadows are a problem for most current module designs. SunPower folks tell me that will improve in 1-2 years, or SolFocus' gear will work out.  [Some of our roof has shadow problems from neighbor's trees, so I'm keen to see this get solved.]

SolarCity and others are also doing government & commercial, which is a little easier in cities, as there is roof space, and less complexity with ownership issues.

Anyway, I make no claim that this area is anything like representative, but it's at least some real data.

-John Mashey



















]]> John Mashey

SolarCity, http://www.solarcity.com/ , does a lot of installations around here.  I've talked to their CEO Lyndon Rive, who emphasized the importance of building and retaining a good workforce, and talked about how to do that.

Elon Musk is the chairman,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk .

Here's SolarCity's overall jobs page:
http://www.solarcity.com/tabid/71/Default.aspx
which includes various sales jobs.

Here's the jobs page for installers:

http://solarcity.com/Default.aspx?tabid=184

Here's the entry position:
PV Installer

This is a great position for construction workers, roofers, electricians who want to get started in the solar industry.

Required skills/experiences
    * No specific PV experience required. However, knowledge of electrical installation, roofing, and general construction is required.
    * Willing to be learn about PV solar electric systems installations

General Qualifications
    * The below qualifications are required for all of the above positions
    * Must have excellent customer relation skills
    * Must be very organized, and be able to meet aggressive timelines
    * Willing to do residential, commercial & service work
    * Willing to work in extreme environments (hot sun, high places/roofs & crawl spaces).
    * Be able to lift at least 100 pounds and not afraid of roof top heights
    * Must have a clean valid drivers license
Benefits:
    * Paid vacation.
    * Medical, dental, and vision.
    * Stock options

They were here doing a mass install in our (little) town:
http://www.solarcity.com/Default.aspx?tabid=200

I used to bump into their installers at the local deli, and talk to them, as there were usually several trucks' worth there at lunch every day for months, and talking to the real workers is always a great way to assess a company.  I have no firsthand experience with their hiring practices.

In general, they were enthusiastic about the company and seemed to enjoy what they were doing.  Of course, 6-8 people is hardly a large sample, and there were no women, although given the modest percentages in construction, that's unsurprising.  

Most were Hispanic, of various skin shades, so if all such count as "white guys", that's what they were, if it matters to somebody.

The website shows recent installations, and residential installations are mostly in suburbs ... but what would one expect?

Houses in suburbs:
usually have enough roof space/family to be useful, which tends to be less true for denser housing, although new (low) condo/apartment complexes are tending to get built with solar builtin, which is easier.  In towns around here, single-family house's roofs are big enough to have a fighting chance to cover electricity bills, and maybe leave something for PHEV.  Some people are building outright ZEHs.

have higher rates of ownership versus rental, which makes it more likely that someone will buy,

on the San Francisco Peninsula, even places called cities are really more like suburbs,

and in this case, have a lot of fairly wealthy owners who are also early adopters and can afford the upfront capital costs. On the other hand, the least expensive area around here is East Palo Alto, and Clarum has built some ZEH's or near-ZEHs there with integrated PV, one of the things needed to get the prices down, along with volume and more efficient PV materials. There is also solar going in in less expensive places, in the East Bay and Central Valley.

Housing in real cities, with large vertical condo/apartment complexes, is nontrivial to retrofit, especially because it is difficult for an individual owner/renter to say "I want to go solar."  Also, shadows are a problem for most current module designs. SunPower folks tell me that will improve in 1-2 years, or SolFocus' gear will work out.  [Some of our roof has shadow problems from neighbor's trees, so I'm keen to see this get solved.]

SolarCity and others are also doing government & commercial, which is a little easier in cities, as there is roof space, and less complexity with ownership issues.

Anyway, I make no claim that this area is anything like representative, but it's at least some real data.

-John Mashey



















]]> Comment #7 by amazingdrx http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:26:51 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/7 Wow

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/technology/01solar.html ...

"SunPower, based in San Jose, said its stock price grew 251 percent in 2007, faster than any other Silicon Valley company, including Apple and Google."

Any stock touts catch this one?  Great link John.

Stories like this one are what are going to make the renewable energy boom a reality.  I can feel the greed building and the fear waning.

When panic sets in that investors are missing the next Cisco and MSFT, look out, it's a wave.  

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog


]]> Wow

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/technology/01solar.html ...

"SunPower, based in San Jose, said its stock price grew 251 percent in 2007, faster than any other Silicon Valley company, including Apple and Google."

Any stock touts catch this one?  Great link John.

Stories like this one are what are going to make the renewable energy boom a reality.  I can feel the greed building and the fear waning.

When panic sets in that investors are missing the next Cisco and MSFT, look out, it's a wave.  

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog


]]> Comment #8 by bookerly http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:09:18 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/8 Jobs


  Dear John,

        Thanks for the anecdotal evidence!!  I have nothing against any particular person getting the jobs (including white guys, I am one (smile)).

        I framed the issue the way I did, because one of the promises on which spending to develop renewables is being sold is that of providing good new jobs.

        Some of us care that these are spread around throughout the economy to people of all classes, colors and sexes.

patrick in Beijing

]]> Jobs


  Dear John,

        Thanks for the anecdotal evidence!!  I have nothing against any particular person getting the jobs (including white guys, I am one (smile)).

        I framed the issue the way I did, because one of the promises on which spending to develop renewables is being sold is that of providing good new jobs.

        Some of us care that these are spread around throughout the economy to people of all classes, colors and sexes.

patrick in Beijing

]]> Comment #9 by JohnMashey http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/ Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:48:49 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/jobs-jobs-jobs/9 Jobs

I don't have specific data, but it is actually quite plausible that many "good" new jobs will indeed be provided.

a) It is pretty clear that there is more funding to turn more green R into green D, which helps well-paid R&D people, a relatively small number.

There is expansion in new kinds of consulting jobs, and in "green-our-company" folks.  I attended a conference recently, with 4 such folks on the panel, of which 3 were female (and very good).

b) It may help some manufacturing workers, given that a lot of higher-efficiency stuff needs to be built.  Increasing costs of transport should unwind some of the worldwide JIT supply chains, which will move manufacturing around.

c) But, I think the main "green jobs" area people are talking about are the large number of construction-like jobs and support staff for them.  Such jobs would seem to be more widely accessible to many people, as there is a fighting chance to enter them with relatively little formal education, and then move up with experience.

-John Mashey

]]> Jobs

I don't have specific data, but it is actually quite plausible that many "good" new jobs will indeed be provided.

a) It is pretty clear that there is more funding to turn more green R into green D, which helps well-paid R&D people, a relatively small number.

There is expansion in new kinds of consulting jobs, and in "green-our-company" folks.  I attended a conference recently, with 4 such folks on the panel, of which 3 were female (and very good).

b) It may help some manufacturing workers, given that a lot of higher-efficiency stuff needs to be built.  Increasing costs of transport should unwind some of the worldwide JIT supply chains, which will move manufacturing around.

c) But, I think the main "green jobs" area people are talking about are the large number of construction-like jobs and support staff for them.  Such jobs would seem to be more widely accessible to many people, as there is a fighting chance to enter them with relatively little formal education, and then move up with experience.

-John Mashey

]]>