Twiddler On The Roof: How I Learned to Pull Wire

摘要

I had been campus campaign organizer for EnviroCitizen in Boston and the Sustainability Coordinator at American University in D.C. I really wanted to pick up a skill that was more focused and allowed me to use my hands. After researching several programs, I settled on the San Juan College Renewable Energy Technician Program in Farmington, N.M., because it was well-established, offered a one-year certificate and was in a beautiful part of the country. People with many different backgrounds came to the SJC program. We shared a passion for renewable energy and an interest in bringing about a different type of world. Carl Bickford, Tom Munson, Bill McQueen, Larry Kraemer and Rick DeLaBarcena taught us to size, design and install both photovoltaic and solar thermal systems. We learned both grid-tied and stand-alone circuitry, instrumentation, and both AC and DC motors and generators. Each semester, a class focused on the National Electrical Code.