What Does a Renewable Energy Engineer Do?

We need renewable energy engineers to create new devices and machines that can generate energy in a way that doesn't harm the environment. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has increased from around 280 parts per million to around 410 parts per million since the industrial revolution began nearly 200 years ago.¹

This harrowing increase in carbon dioxide percentages isn't just a number on a page. It has serious consequences for the health of the planet and every being that lives on it, including humans.

Of course, we can't expect that society will regress to a pre-industrial state. For as much harm as these technologies have wrought on the planet, they have created countless benefits for our species. This is where renewable energy engineers have the opportunity to help save the planet while sustaining the standard of living we've all come to appreciate.

By improving and implementing existing renewable energy sources, such as wind farms and solar energy arrays, renewable energy engineers can help slow the current climate crisis. In many cases, these engineers are hard at work developing new clean energy generation methods that may be even more effective at generating power.

Renewable energy engineers build solutions related to energy use. Like all engineers, they use a combination of research, mathematics, design and testing to create green solutions that generate energy without harming the environment. Due to the ongoing climate crisis, interest and investment in this field of renewable energy is expanding into new areas of research.²

Typically, renewable energy engineers are tasked with designing and testing elegant solutions for clean energy generation. In some cases, this may result in implementing existing technology in new locations, such as building a solar array outside of Los Angeles. In other instances, it may involve designing more efficient, cost-effective versions of those technologies or designing entirely new technologies that can create energy using renewable resources.

The path to becoming a renewable energy engineer can be similar to the path for any other field of engineering. Generally, you will need to have a bachelor's degree or master's degree in engineering.

You will typically gain experience through an internship or entry-level position before becoming a renewable energy engineer. In some cases, your entry-level work will put you in the same room as the engineers, giving you a great opportunity to build the skills you'll need to advance toward an engineering position. This is only because "engineer" is very rarely an entry-level job title. Just because your first job in this field doesn’t have the word "engineer" in the title doesn't mean that you won't be doing vital engineering related or adjacent work.

Another title for renewable energy engineer is environmental engineer. Currently, the rate of growth for environmental engineering jobs is projected to grow 4% from 2020 to 2030, on a national level, according to information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.³ In general, the demand for renewable energy sources is increasing as more people become aware of the severity of the ongoing climate crisis.⁴

To become a renewable energy engineer, you need to study engineering or a closely related field. In most cases, a bachelor's degree is required to achieve an entry-level position within the renewable energy engineering sector, and some companies may require a master's degree to obtain an engineer-level title.

If you're interested in working to save the planet through the use of technology and innovation, then a career as a renewable energy engineer may be the perfect fit. This exciting field is critical to the future of the planet and our species, and the work you do may help save lives and the environment. On top of all of these benefits, you'll get to work hands-on with cutting-edge equipment while designing the clean energy solutions of the future.