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Wireless spectrum has long been the true arena in the communications industry where the team that holds the most territory is usually the network that will have the most control.  This has been a common place for strategic purchases amongst wireless carriers.  So common, that I had completely forgotten about the importance of spectrum until a new player came in to the game. In today's article from Gigaom, "Utilities Want More Spectrum, Too", the focus is on the utilities and how the evolution of smart grid is making the utilities realize the need for wireless spectrum.  The more features (smart meters, remote monitoring and access, and application support) the utilities are going to promote with their smart grid solution, the more bandwidth these entities will need.  To accomplish this, the utilities can create their own networks or partner with a third-party vendor.  As you may recall in a previous article, "How Smart is the Smart Energy Industry", we talked

Okay.  We're not going to really talk about rats, but imagine the outcome if you had to decide on the survival of your family over sparing an endangered animal.  I love life, I love nature.  But at some point we have to make a decision that results in a better tomorrow.  I'll come back to this. The Sacramento Business Journal recently posted the report, " California, Sacramento keeps growing 'green' jobs " which highlights the achievements of the region that includes California's Core Green Economy Job average annual growth rate of 3%. First, I want go in to Next 10's report and focus on ideas for the green-tern. Page 14 (report is no longer avail as of 2018) provides a quick reference table of Green segments and job types that can help you with your research for careers in the Green industry.   Another great find in this report is how major cities are defined by the type of energy solutions they focus on determined by employment shares.  For examp

We grow up being told that education leads to job security and that job security determines direction.  While this may be true in some aspects, focusing only on job security will be your inhibitor. Many of you have made the decision to leave that comfort zone...  that hourly - that salary - that position  - that status.   Some of you have spent years studying for one industry only to find yourself in the green industry.  Now faced with the decision of whether or not to continue down your current path, you may be tempted to go back to something that you probably determined won't make you happy. I want to remind you of the importance of bringing yourself to the point of discovery, learning what your tolerance for adversity is and then pushing past it.  Job security is one thing.  Knowing what you're made of is another. It's been said that if you can go to bed at night knowing that you've learned something new that day, then you've allowed yourself to grow.  I be

In an article from OregonLive.com, " SolarWorld, others in Oregon hope to benefit from new "Buy America" law ", there are indications that the DOD Appropriations Act has a provision that will give SolarWorld and other companies with U.S. factories some protection from Chinese solar companies. First, take a few steps back and recall on December 19, 2010, President Barack Obama signed in to law the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act .    At the time of the signing, most of the media was hailing that Act as a successful move to support the efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Due diligence will have you reading between the lines and understanding that the Act was much more. You can find the provision in H.R. 3326: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 , Section 8038 which "Prohibits the use of funds: (1) by a DOD entity without compliance with the Buy American Act." Let's look at a few more details and attempt to take away key elem

GE made the news today with its investment in the Alta Wind I farm in Kern County, California.  This made me want to dig a little deeper to get a better idea of GE Energy Financial Service's strategy.  I went into their website to see their wind energy portfolio and the kind of activity has occurred between December 2010 and this latest announcement.  What I found was interesting and seems to correlate with GE's stock activity. Take a look at the charts and you'll see December's break out, but inability to break out of the current channel (and overhead resistance in January) Here's some of the highlights for December: CPV Renewable Energy Company $65,000,000 152-megawatt wind project located 12 miles southwest of Woodward, Oklahoma Horizon Wind Energy LLC $111,000,000 The farms are located in Rattlesnake Road, Oregon (103 MW); Meridian Way, north central Kansas (201 MW); and Pioneer Prairie, northeastern Iowa (300 MW). $117,000,000 225-megawatt wind fa

Renewable Energy Certificates (REC's) are starting to buzz more often in my ears, so I figured that it was time to begin understanding what will someday become the "alternative" market for trading. Renewable Electricity Certificates or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs) is viewed as the solution that will help states meet their Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) sooner, if not more aggressively. To simplify how the process works, here's my take: 1. Grid-tied producer of electricity (solar, wind...pick your flavor) produces a) electricity and b) the REC. 2. Once the renewable-based electricity is created and sent to the grid, there is no way of distinguishing between electricity generated from other sources. ("Come on! I swear my 1-panel system is powering Grand Central Station.") 3. The solution is to give the point of generation 1 REC for every megawatt of electricity contributed to the grid. 4. This gives you the two products (electricity a

As your strategies for landing an internship develop while in your green training, I want you to try to avoid limiting yourself with the possibilities of where you will find your opportunities.  Try to get away from relying on traditional methods such as general job boards and unlock doors through your research and volunteering.   I'll start with the latter. The key to volunteering is ensuring that  the position creates a foundation for your career.  This means that the duties of the volunteer position must provide the basic skills required for your goal.  If you don't have a goal yet, skip right down to the "research" section.  Now, although it's important, let's just put aside the rewards you reap spiritually when volunteering to help others and realize that as a job seeker, you have a mission to develop and sell yourself to your future employer.  Therefore treat your volunteer efforts as the defining point of your career.  If you treat the volunteer porti

California solar companies have been frequently making headlines across the nation as Golden State companies kick off the New Year with announcements to expand into other states.  Mississippi has the pleasure of welcoming San Jose thin-film solar manufacturer Stion .  In an article from CNET News , Stion's gift of the state's first thin-film solar panel factory will bring 1,000 jobs to Mississippi.  In other news , W Solar Group Inc will be moving the whole house over to Dane County in Wisconsin.  Also a thin-film solar company, W Solar will be bringing approximately 620 jobs to Wisconsin.  Digging deeper in to some of the moves, it's obvious that incentives are a key element in the decision process.  Mississippi is giving Stion a $75mil loan in addition to incentives, while Wisconsin is offering W Solar an incentive that gives the company a $28mil Enterprise Zone Tax credit. First side of the coin: Of course, Californians are left to wonder why their solar companies ar

The method of using incineration to generate power by burning material (or waste) and then converting the steam to power turbines easily brings up arguments for and against its use.  When discussing costs per tonnage, incineration requires the least capital.  However, the ash, emissions, and the clean-up required as a result of the incineration process is an environmental challenge. Pyrolysis involves the decomposition of organic material in the absence of oxygen, thereby reducing the amount of emissions.  In addition, the process produces very little ash.  This process can produce bio-fuel. In a recent article, " Donation Drives New Direction of Bioenergy Research at University of Idaho ", the University of Idaho received a donation from APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP to install a pyrolysis unit at the University's steam plant to research converting wood biomass to energy.   Extracted from the article, "The process yields about 60 percent bio-oil; 20 per

I recently received interesting feedback about the whole idea of green as an over stretched issue exaggerated by the government and that an industry that revolves around the sciences leaves one at the mercy of other people to determine what the problems are or are not.  What I appreciate the most about this response is that it was genuine.  The sentiment is shared by many people and it serves a purpose in creating a certain degree of resilience in society.  It also came from a very good friend who I can count on to tell it to me straight. I like this perspective because I can go into many industries and apply the challenge.  In telecom, how does the customer know he or she is really getting four gigs of data when the tools that measure bandwidth are driven by engineering-manipulated software?  Do they know the value of spectrum purchased from the government, let alone the reason for pages of additional charges on their bill?  In medicine can a patient argue with the drug makers and t

As the first Monday of the new year approaches, I wanted to start off this post by reiterating the importance of viewing your industry with the big picture in mind.  When I was doing my first solar installation, one of the rooftop ramblings involved the close and obvious relationship between solar and electricity vehicles. Now the idea of electric cars is not new.  Neither is the idea of charging stations.  However, the opportunities that present themselves are great for those that want to get in to solar, electrical technician positions, and yes, even smart grid.  As the charging stations become more popular and we see the charging stations appear as frequently as the highway rest stop, there should be a demand for technicians to service those stations. The article brought up an interesting issue on load clusters that helped broaden my own perspective on the career possibilities with charging stations.  The article states, "Load clusters occur when several vehicles are refuel