Introduction
Hi everyone, electrical engineering has been one of the core branches of engineering for centuries, and it commands a distinctive importance in the present era as well. My name is Harshvardhan Gupta, originally from Delhi, India and I’m here to talk to you about how I turned my passion for electrical power into my career in renewable energy.
My interest for science took shape in high school when I took Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics as my major subjects, along with Economics. I believe that choosing Economics as one of the subjects then helped me in understanding the close association between the financial and technical aspects of any project, which I didn’t realize then, but is helping me in my first job, nine years later. Early experiences with resistors, sensors, transistors, etc. significantly influenced my interests. By the time I was ready to choose a college major, I was eager to delve into electrical engineering.
I pursued a bachelor’s in engineering from India and then a Master of Science from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where I immersed myself in various aspects of this field. One pivotal experience was the course in Renewable Energy in Power Systems, which truly sparked my passion in energy systems. Throughout my studies, I took part in significant projects and research with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, solidifying my dedication to clean and green electric power.
I work as a senior associate on the SCADA and operations team at Arevon Energy. My day-to-day responsibilities encompass helping design the controls and data acquisition systems for our solar and battery storage power plants. We build, own, and operate utility-scale power plants across the country, get to work with local utilities, consumers as well as industries to understand their needs and requirements and design the system. I am particularly proud of the work I do here as over a period of a year or two I get to see a power plant come up on a barren piece of land and provide electricity to hundreds of thousands of people in the region. My expertise lies in control systems, electric power analysis, and project management, dealing with government representatives and authorities, and I am enthusiastic about a project of ours coming up online in San Diego, that is supposed to provide clean energy to 10,000 homes in the region.
Electrical Engineering Fellow
career options
In the rapidly evolving field of renewable energy, various engineering roles play crucial parts in ensuring the efficient design, implementation, and optimization of energy systems. Below are some of the career options that someone with a background in electrical engineering can look at.
Electrical Engineering Fellow
skills
What are the main hard skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
Almost daily, I use electrical engineering concepts related to medium and high voltage electrical systems as they relate to utility scale solar plants and battery energy storage systems. Since my current role is developing control systems for power plants, one needs to understand and implement electric power flow analysis, data flow analysis, and electrical control systems concepts such as response time, ramp rate, real and reactive power, etc. Having a bachelor’s and a master’s in electrical engineering did help me get a strong grasp on these concepts, but I do get myself updated with the latest innovation and technological advancements in the realm of control systems by reading online, going through research papers, etc.
I work in the development of performance models for the operating projects utilizing industry standard modeling tools as well as statistical tools which are used in evaluating ongoing project performance as well as forecasting annual production budget for each of the projects. I must keep abreast of the latest PVsyst (one of the modelling tools), PVwatts, and performance modeling developments in the field, to accurately perform my daily activities. I had some experience working with PVSyst during my research with LADWP and I’m grateful I could use that tool effectively when I joined this job.
A part of my responsibilities in the current role includes working with Microsoft Project, and MS Office suites such as Word, PowerPoint, Planner, Power BI, etc. to keep the management updated about the project development status and share project-related tasks/issues/solutions with various intra-company teams and outside clients and consumers. My experience with MS Project during my master's does come handy in my job now.
What are the main soft skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
Effectively conveying technical information to non-technical stakeholders, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, and ensuring that project updates and technical details are clearly understood by all parties. I developed my communication skills by dealing with counterparties associated with our projects including governmental authorities, corporates, technical/non-technical people, etc.
Quickly identifying issues in complex electrical systems and devising innovative solutions to overcome challenges, ensuring that renewable energy projects stay on track and operate efficiently. Having an engineering background does help with problem solving abilities, and my current job allows me to implement my knowledge to real world problems.
Ensuring precision in designing, implementing, and maintaining electrical systems, rigorously checking calculations and plans to prevent errors that could compromise the efficiency and safety of power plants. Knowing how the project largely affects the community helps me keep a focused mind and keep my attention to minute details.
Harshvardhan
’s personal path
Tell us about your personal journey in
Electrical Engineering Fellow
:
My story of job search in the US started with the onslaught of COVID, in the spring of 2019. I still remember coming back home after giving an interview for an on-campus job in the facilities department, feeling confident that I would get the job as it was with a team managing the electrical system of the campus, and I was amongst the very few having some experience with that, and the same evening we all got an email saying because of virus the campus would be shut down for the students, and no on-campus job would be allowed because of that.
Little did I know then that the campus would remain shut for the entirety of my master’s program there. With a pandemic going on, I started applying for summer internship programs and after 100s of applications, and multiple rounds of interviews I was able to grab an Electrical Engineering intern offer with a design firm, only to have the offer rescinded a week before my joining. With my confidence at its lowest, I knew the only way to deal with this setback was to keep applying for other jobs and talking to people on LinkedIn, and my school alumni. Being just a week away from when companies are about to start their summer internships, I knew the chances of securing a traditional corporate internship were low. At that time, I got to know about my professor who was doing research with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and after a couple of rounds of interviews with him, I was able to secure a spot in his research group. Later, that turned out to be a career-defining moment for me as I got pulled into the field of renewable energy with that research group, and now four years from then I can’t think of another field that would give me higher job satisfaction.
My challenges with job search came back once again in the summer of next year when I had just graduated and was looking for full-time positions. At that time, I felt the lack of corporate internship experience was going to haunt me and affect my full-time job search, as even after multiple applications and interviews, I couldn’t secure one job offer. Again, in times like these, when nothing is happening as per your wish, you are seeing no results for your efforts, and your confidence is taking a new hit every day, the only way to deal with the situation is to take one day at a time and work towards a solution. All my experiences has taught me one thing, perseverance is the key to problems like these. And as expected, at the end of it all, I had five different job offers within a span of 24 hours.
What would you tell your younger you regarding building your current career?
If I were to advise my younger self about building my career it would be – perseverance. I would want my younger self to just keep working towards his goal, however adverse the situation may be. The only way to get out of it would be to keep my head down and work on fixing it. There will be times in my professional career (and job search), when giving up would feel like the only solution, even then if I were to take one day at a time and work towards the solution, I would come out of it stronger and successful, and with an opportunity that I would probably have not gotten if things had been happening smoothly.
Final thoughts & tips
In conclusion, I would say to always keep an open mind. Electrical engineering is not just about conventional and obsolete technology working with heavy-duty equipment and tools. If you are passionate about this field, you can choose a career where you can make a difference in human lives and the planet. Three years back, I had no idea about renewable energy asset management, but right now I’m working with some of the latest technologies in the field of clean energy, using Tesla’s megapacks for our battery storage plants and making something that’ll be here for decades to come. You’ll never know what innovative technology or tools will come up two years in the future, so always keep an open mind and choose to work in a field you are passionate about, and you’ll never regret your decision.
Resources to dig in more
Solar Energy Industries Association
It’s an association for companies that work in the solar energy industry and have valuable resources on all the latest projects and news from the industry.
PVsyst Youtube channel
It’s a tutorial channel for PVsyst, a simulation tool, most widely used simulation tool in the solar power industry.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
It’s the website for NREL for research, development, commercialization, and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
