For the last two years, Texas Solar Energy Society has raised funds (thank you Meadows Foundation!) to help our chapters reach out and match women and people of color with solar and clean energy companies. Solar Austin, one of our regional chapters, initiated an internship program in 2020. Because of its success, we decided to implement it statewide through our four other regional chapters.
Just this summer, the Houston Renewable Energy Group’s (HREG) Board president shared that they had 98 intern applicants representing:
- High school seniors to post grads and PhDs;
- Every university in the Houston area as well as many from out of the city/state;
- Many majors including law, computer science, engineering, business;
- Perfect or nearly perfect GPAs; and
- Leaders in their university energy clubs.
TXSES is thrilled to support our regional chapters as they place outstanding interns with solar companies across the state. Heartfelt thanks to those companies that are providing these opportunities for students and we welcome new companies to participate in our successful internship program.
Meet these remarkable interns who are becoming part of the new clean energy workforce in Texas!
Ken Echeverry of Plano, whose father is from Colombia, graduated in 2019 from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in computer engineering. After graduation, he became interested in renewable energy. After Googling “solar energy in Texas” Ken found TXSES and while perusing the website, he discovered that the North Texas Renewable Energy Group (NTREG) was a TXSES chapter close to Plano. He contacted them and learned of their internship program (sponsored by TXSES). NTREG quickly connected him with Wells Solar, a TXSES Gold Business Member, located in Burleson, TX.
“I learned day-to-day operations for both residential solar and small commercial solar installations,” said Echeverry. “I tagged along for surveys, including the 3-dimensional drone shot surveys. My favorite part of this work was getting to navigate those! I learned a lot about roofs. There were different mounting systems…I knew none of this before the internship.”
Shortly after his three-month internship, Ken landed a full-time job with SolArk, an inverter and manufacturing design company, where he’s part of their software engineering team.
“SolArk, based in my hometown of Plano, wanted someone who knew the industry. The short-term internship gave me the knowledge I needed to land this position. I love this job as we make sure that we can power family homes and that they can be confident that they have reliability. The TXSES internship 100% helped me land this job.”
From Wallis, Tx., Adrian Small will be a senior this fall at Prairie View A&M where he studies electrical engineering. Adrian found out about the TXSES solar internship program through his career advisor at school who knew about it from Sami Sultan, president of Houston Renewable Energy Group, one of TXSES’ intern-supported chapters.
Adrian has been in his internship for just a few weeks but finds everything he’s learning “really interesting.” “I’m gaining lots of insight on how to approach renewable energy. I’m currently working with EDP’s solar team.”
Adrian says it’s fascinating to learn how solar panels are made. “The single cell panel into a module, into a stream, into an array…the whole evolution of the silicone that’s made for the glass of the panels. I’m also learning about voltage cables, their interaction with each other and how too close proximity can cause too much heat.”
Adrian hopes to work for EDP Renewables or another solar energy company upon graduation in May 2023.
Currently a public affairs student at UT-Dallas, Meghanna Bommareddy knew very little about solar energy before she began her eight-month internship with TXSES in 2021.
“Working at TXSES was an incredibly valuable experience. My work with various solar businesses helped me learn more about the state of solar energy in Texas and what that looks like in practice, which helped inspire a love for sustainability. Since then, I have worked on sustainability-related initiatives at the United Nations Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service, and plan to pursue a career in this field. Needless to say, I am beyond grateful for the opportunities that my TXSES internship gave me.”