#greenenergy – Your Energy Your Way

It’s Green Careers week! What is that all about I hear you ask.

Green Careers Week not only spotlights environmentally-friendly and sustainable job opportunities; it also provides a fantastic opportunity to learn, connect, and explore the many ways you can contribute to a more sustainable future through your career choices. Whether you’re a recent graduate looking for your first job or someone looking to make a career shift towards sustainability like I did, this event can provide valuable insights and guidance. If you are interested in finding out more about Green Careers Week, you can do so here.

I also wanted to share my recent journey into a green career. Towards the end of last year, I made a 360-degree career change and joined Your Energy Your Way and the world of renewable energy solutions.

I must be honest and admit that I had never heard of a heat pump until then! Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, but that said, I know that there are many people out there who, like me, don’t know how the technology works or what the benefits are.

I know that here in the UK we tend to think of a heat pump as a new technology, and quite honestly that is exactly what I thought. I then decided to some research and was rather surprised to learn that the first heat pump system was developed back in 1855!

I also found it interesting that the Nordic countries Sweden, Finland and Norway, which have the coldest climates in all of Europe also have the most heat pumps installed with more than 40 heat pumps per 100 households.

Needless to say, I still have LOADS to learn and I am grateful to have the opportunity to have a green career that is interesting and where I feel I’m making a difference.

A guest blog by our interns Hannah and Mia on their experiences of working with us this summer.

As two people keen to take our first steps in the renewables industry, we were delighted to do this through a summer internship offered by Your Energy Your Way.

So what did we learn?

It was decided that the best way of familiarising ourselves with renewables would be to jump in with the design process and having a go for ourselves.

We were introduced to two software packages – one which is used to perform heat loss calculations to help determine what heat pump is required for a particular property, and the other to design solar PV systems. This gave us a basic idea of how Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) and solar PV systems function. We used this knowledge to move on to designing actual systems that people would be able to use in real life homes and workplaces. We both found it so inspiring to help our projects go through the design and costing process, before seeing the results as they were installed and handed over to the new owners.

We especially enjoyed shadowing a technician who was servicing ASHPs for a few days. This helped us to translate what we had learnt in the office into practical skills, and as a bonus, find out more about general heating systems than we had anticipated! Other highlights included learning exactly how Air Source Heat Pumps work and we enjoyed the lovely breeze the heat pump generated on a boiling summers day – although apparently this isn’t quite so pleasant in the middle of winter!

Towards the end of the summer, there was the opportunity to install a solar PV system over the course of a week. Especially notable was being able to get onto the roof and help with solar panel installations. This was a fantastic opportunity to learn some generally useful electrical skills, while giving a much better idea of what was in a solar PV system. By going to a site and doing a complete install, it was much easier to see how the parts we had ordered in the office all fitted together and why they were all necessary to get to the final, commissioned system.

Roof prep for solar PV installed rubber tiles, drilled hooks into rafters and installed rails for panels to hang on — Half way through – installed rubber tiles, drilled hooks into rafters and installed rails for panels to hang on

Roof fitted with solar panels — Half way through – installed rubber tiles, drilled hooks into rafters and installed rails for panels to hang on

It’s been a full summer getting into a fast-paced and rapidly changing industry. But we’ve gained so many useful skills over the last few months, on top of discovering that it’s not all doom and gloom. People are taking real, tangible steps to help the environment, which is really motivating and hopeful.

We’ve loved taking a dive into world of renewables and hope to be back soon!

Tag: #greenenergy

Green Careers Week

Our Introduction to the World of Renewables – A Summer Internship at YEYW