Women Learning Solar Together

June 20, 2022

Nine women came together to join a five-day Women’s Solar PV Installation Workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico in June 2022. The workshop was linked to the annual American Solar Energy Society Conference, and was led by long-time solar advocate, engineer, and educator Marlene Brown. She had additional assistance from fellow instructor and solar business owner Taiyoko Sadewic from Positive Energy. I volunteered to assist at the workshop, and was able to help with some of the logistics and a bit of the instruction on the roof.

Of the nine participants, about half were currently living in the Albuquerque area, while the rest came from other parts of the country including Florida, California, North Carolina, the Four Corners region, and Michigan. The reasons for participating varied, and included general interest, a desire to learn because of building a home that will have solar, direct overlap with nonprofit work in their communities, and developing a more nuanced understanding of installation and components because of work in solar sales. The participants included: Wendy Atcitty, Wendy Davis, Amanda Wachtel, Ysa Trujillo, Barbara Mills, Raina Greenfest, Valeria Martinez, Alexis Thompson, and Karen Soares.

The workshop had a blend of classroom time and hands-on time. The classroom learning covered the concepts behind solar PV and explained the key components in a typical off-grid and grid-tied solar system. Because workshop was hosted at Central New Mexico Community College, in the PV Lab, the participants had amazing access to tools and equipment in a space that is set up for learning! The students did a couple of labs with the modules and equipment on site to learn about current and voltage, series/parallel connections, and the tools that exist to help determine shading on a solar array.

A PV certificate program is offered by CNM and Marlene leads that, if you should be seeking a more in-depth learning experience. I attended a similar program at San Juan College in Farmington, NM many years ago, and it unfortunately no longer exists. Marlene told us that this certificate program at CNM is the only program that exists in the state.

Following the classroom instruction and labs for the first three days, we then moved into the installation portion of the workshop. Marlene had worked closely with CNM to get approval to install a small off-grid system to power DC lights on a gazebo behind the building. It included two Sharp solar modules, a charge controller, and two flooded lead acid batteries.

It was a great example of how amazing it is to carry out projects at a trades school. The welding students had made a battery box for us to use for the project, and while we were doing the install, Marlene was able to recruit a female electrical trades student to help us with conduit bending. The carpentry instructor helped us on several occasions throughout the installation, with scaffolding, drill bits, and jokes.

We were lucky to also attend a great tour of the UniRac manufacturing facility that is located in Albuquerque. In addition to the workshop attendees, we were joined by several UniRac staff and Baywa staff.

Overall, I was struck by what an amazing, smart, talented, diverse group of women came together for the workshop and how community was built amongst our group so quickly. As someone who has worked with a lot of men in solar over the last few years, I can say that this camaraderie and feeling of encouragement and support is pretty unique. It’s not that men are never encouraging, but there is something special when a group of women come together to learn in this kind of technical trade environment.

I truly feel inspired and excited for what these women will do in their lives, and how we can all continue to support one another. That genuine sense of community and support is what Solar for Women is all about. I feel grateful to have met each of the women who were there, and look forward to being part of more of these conversations and workshops.

Marlene Brown works with Raina Greenfest and Valeria Martinez to install modules during the women’s solar PV workshop.