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The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

washingtonpost.com

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Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#11

Post by eagletusk »

jMyles wrote: post #6

I live in a school bus, traveling the country. I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful; I always marvel at them when we drive by. Does anybody here know how to break into this industry, working on a mobile, on-site basis? Maybe with embedded tech?

Wind Farms are built by people living in RVs already, so you've got that figured out. Three months here 6 months there.

Embedded software is extremely hard to do mobile, and anyways all of the electronics tech is designed in Germany.

Getting a entry level job in wind is about being nearby and willing to work. If you have a college degree you can always be a field Engineer.

I'm an Electrical Engineer in the wind industry now, previously I was in the field, and previously I was an embedded software/hardware engineer.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#14

Post by jMyles »

eagletusk wrote: post #11
jMyles wrote: post #6

I live in a school bus, traveling the country. I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful; I always marvel at them when we drive by. Does anybody here know how to break into this industry, working on a mobile, on-site basis? Maybe with embedded tech?

Wind Farms are built by people living in RVs already, so you've got that figured out. Three months here 6 months there. Embedded software is extremely hard to do mobile, and anyways all of the electronics tech is designed in Germany. Getting a entry level job in wind is about being nearby and willing to work. If you have a college degree you can always be a field Engineer. I'm an Electrical Engineer in the wind indus…

> Getting a entry level job in wind is about being nearby and willing to work.

So like, if I see people working at a wind farm, just go up and introduce myself?

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#15

Post by Filligree »

jMyles wrote: post #14
eagletusk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wind Farms are built by people living in RVs already, so you've got that figured out. Three months here 6 months there. Embedded software is extremely hard to do mobile, and anyways all of the electronics tech is designed in Germany. Getting a entry level job in wind is about being nearby and willing to work. If you have a college degree you can always be a field Engineer. I'm an Electrical Engineer in the wind indus…

> Getting a entry level job in wind is about being nearby and willing to work. So like, if I see people working at a wind farm, just go up and introduce myself?

Sure, why not? Worst case, they'll know how they got hired.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#16

Post by jMyles »

Filligree wrote: post #15
jMyles wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Getting a entry level job in wind is about being nearby and willing to work. So like, if I see people working at a wind farm, just go up and introduce myself?

Sure, why not? Worst case, they'll know how they got hired.

OK - I'll report back and let HN know how it goes. :-)

(I have a full-time gig at the moment right now until September, so it'll be a little while).

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#18

Post by ptaipale »

tinco wrote: post #17

The article does not respond to the claim of the president that windmills kill birds. Do they really in a significant way? Is it worthy of being called an environmental disaster?

I would say it is significant but not disaster. For some sources, look at

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-many-birds-do-w...

AFAIK, in terms of number of birds, house cats kill about 1000 times as many birds as windmills, but cats of course prey on small birds and windmills kill large birds which are far lower in numbers.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#19

Post by chasing »

tinco wrote: post #17

The article does not respond to the claim of the president that windmills kill birds. Do they really in a significant way? Is it worthy of being called an environmental disaster?

http://www.audubon.org/news/will-wind-turbines-ever-be-safe-...

I didn't realize that was such a big issue. Over time, humanity will figure out ways of making wind turbines less of a danger to birds.

In the mean time, I would assume that wind power still remains a net positive for the overall environment versus coal, etc.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#20

Post by ThomPete »

jMyles wrote: post #6

I live in a school bus, traveling the country. I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful; I always marvel at them when we drive by. Does anybody here know how to break into this industry, working on a mobile, on-site basis? Maybe with embedded tech?

Windmill technology is fairly low tech. there are a few things around the wings but besides that it's not really a "tech" business IMO.
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