Free Intro to Sustainability Course

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Coursera is offering a free course, Intro to Sustainability
Coursera - Sustainability classes

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Sources for Solar Jobs and News

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Career Planning Green Jobs Network IREC Solar Career Map  - A great tool to help you map out your career path. Solar Energy Careers Don't discount the opportunities that Craigslist and other local community sites offer.  Oftentimes, young start-ups will rely on those sites because they're free.  Think of it this way, money saved on advertisement is money that can go to new solar employees.  Go to the jobs section and filter for "solar". Training Solar Training Network Industry News Plain and simple... If you want to be a part of the industry, you have to keep up with the industry. Get informed, but be careful with information overload...unless you're an info junkie like me :) Clean Technica Energy.gov Greentech Media - Solar  (lots of other renewables on this site) IREC PV Magazine Renewable Energy World Solar Industry Magazine Solar Energy Industries Association: SEIA and the GUNTHER Portfolio has a whole slew of links, especially for those o
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Floating Solar Panels

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One of my students brought in an article that described floating solar panels.  The idea was to use water areas that won't intrude on the surrounding area but rather take advantage of already modified human space. PV panels have negative thermal drift.  In other words, they lose efficiency when the temperature increases.  So having access to an immediate source for cooling does wonders for the panel efficiency. The article featured a company called Solaris Syndergy , but was dated last year.   So I decided to take a look to see how far the innovation has come.   Looking into their product, I realized that they solution is centered around CSP.  However, I was able to find another company that uses reflectors and PV panels. Check out Scienza Industria Technologia ! The FTCC System. Image from http://www.scintec.it and while we're on the water, why not submerge it! Submerged Photovoltaic Solar Panel Any scuba divers wanting to cross careers with photovoltaics?  I call
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Avoiding the Industry Resource Choke

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Recent articles describing some of the challenges of solar companies (i.e. bankruptcy and facility closures) made me think about the natural progression of any industry.  You may recall an earlier post about how the telecommunications industry went through its own house-cleaning and the advice to stay informed with your chosen field.  It's just a matter of time before the renewables go through the same thing, if it hasn't started already.  However, do not despair and abandon your efforts to gain a foothold in the industry.  One of your responsibilities is to stay in tune with the industry of your choice and understand the dynamics.  Why is one company going bankrupt?  Is it a true depiction of industry strength or weakness? What is influencing change? Or is just the result of the cycle that all industries go through?  I would lean toward the latter with the belief that this is a good thing. But let's step this aside from the obvious and start applying the same concep
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