Danielle Kvadas is a Coastal Carolina University (CCU) Solar Ambassador Alumni who was involved in the program for three years. Learn more about Danielle and how she went from team lead for the CCU Solar Ambassador Team to Solar Design and Procurement Manager for a solar company in Montana in the interview below!
What encouraged you to become a RE-volv Solar Ambassador?
I received an email that was sent out to all Coastal Carolina University (CCU) students from Dr. Martin, our team’s Advisor and Professor, about the Solar Ambassador Program. At that time, I was already working part-time at a solar company doing solar design. I was reading about the Solar Ambassador program and what it’s about and I figured it was so in line with what I was already doing that it just made sense to join.
What was your role on the Coastal Carolina University Solar Ambassador team?
I was on the CCU Solar Ambassador Team for three years, from 2018 to 2021. The first year I spent learning about the previous projects my team had done, learning about the program, and getting involved. The second-year I was co-lead of the team and the last year I was the team lead.
As the team lead, a majority of what I worked on was managing the team and working with the team to assign tasks, roles, and responsibilities so that everyone on the team had a job. I also helped answer questions and filled in the gaps on different projects that needed to be completed. We had different committees that members of the team could join, including local event planning, on-campus event planning, and policy work. I was the liaison between the different groups and also helped out with each one.
Can you talk about your experience bringing solar to VFW Post 10420?
During my time as a Solar Ambassador, the VFW Post 10420 is probably the most memorable project for me that I've worked on. We got connected with the VFW through Dr. Martin and followed up with them to see if they were interested in going solar and also connected them to VFW Post 10804, the first VFW that our team helped go solar, for the Post to learn more about the program.
Meeting with the VFW members and presenting the initial proposal was very nervous for me at the beginning and our team in general. But after talking with them, they were very much on board with solar and their reaction was so different than what I thought it was going to be. That made the process of helping them go solar go really smoothly. I would say the most memorable part of the project was the Ribbon Cutting Event because the community was so involved and we had a great turnout. It was great to see everybody come together for solar.
Danielle, Coastal Carolina Solar Ambassadors, and VFW Post Members at VFW Post 10420’s Ribbon Cutting Event.
How did VFW Post 10420 benefit from going solar?
When we were talking to some of the VFW members, they shared that they were excited to go solar because some of the money that they would be saving from the solar would now be going to different funds that they had within the organizations. They were happy to be able to move some of the money to other initiatives that they would normally spend on their electricity bills.
In addition to helping VFW Post 10420 go solar, did you and your team work on other projects and initiatives?
When I joined, the team was working on our first Ribbon Cutting Event for VFW Post 10804. We had the Ribbon Cutting and we were beginning to talk with the second VFW. We were also working on and helped push for the City of Georgetown to adopt a solar ordinance, which was a big part of the work we did. We also hosted on-campus solar education events and would table at different local events to talk about solar.
We also did the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) training to help us get a career in the solar industry and to learn more about the technical side of solar. We also had the opportunity to take various solar classes and learn more about the industry.
During my last year, we worked with The Village Group to help them go solar. The nonprofit is currently expanding its building, so the project is currently on hold until that is finalized. For that project, we did a lot of education with the students that the nonprofit serves, we participated in their annual bike tour, and we hosted a trash-clean-up day in partnership with The Village Group.
Where are you working now and what is your role at the company?
After I graduated from CCU, I got a job working at Harvest Solar as the Solar Design and Procurement Manager. I do design and proposals for our solar arrays, order some of the materials for the project, and help with project management for the project. We have 15 people who work at the company and have two locations in Bozeman and Billings, Montana. We do predominantly residential solar projects, but we also do commercial projects and some small utility-scale projects.
How did you get your first position in the solar industry?
I was actually 16 years old and in high school when I first got into solar. I was taking an architecture class at the time since I really wanted to be an architect, and for the class, I needed an internship. There was an internship available at a local solar company working on some design and administrative work, so I applied for the internship and got it. I had built my skills up learning about solar and design. After the internship, they hired me on as a Solar PV Design Specialist and I did that throughout high school and part of college.
After that, I moved to a different solar company and worked as the Solar Power Systems Coordinator and I worked there until graduation. One of the things that I liked about the Solar Ambassador Program was that I had residential and commercial solar experience, but I never had experience helping a nonprofit go solar. The commercial and residential sides are different from the nonprofit side, so I liked having the experience working with the nonprofits.
Did your internship in high school help you decide on pursuing a career in the solar industry?
I would say that internship definitely played a huge role in changing my career path. Once I got into the solar field, I just really enjoyed doing it, and that was important to me because you want to enjoy what you do. I was able to work on designs and every design is different. Even if houses have the same system size, the electrical and design side is always different. I like that there’s always diversity within the projects.
What is one of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on in your role?
My favorite project that I’ve worked on at Harvest Solar was that I had the opportunity to go to a neighborhood where we were installing solar in South West Montana. We were installing solar on 8-10 houses and I got the opportunity to help install solar during that project. I enjoyed that because I could see my designs coming together and then being able to get the hands-on learning experience was great as that makes me a better designer. My favorite part of the job is going into the field and participating in the installations.
What type of education, certification, or courses would you recommend to get into the solar field?
Being a Coastal Carolina University Solar Ambassador, I had the opportunity to complete the NABCEP training which was really beneficial. I also did a lot of the Solar Energy International (SEI) online free trainings and as well as some of the courses you could purchase, and those were really beneficial as well. I have learned most of everything I know about solar from working alongside people who know it, learning from them, and being hands-on in the field. We're currently using a new design software system and I’m the one implementing it at our work. If there’s a new piece of equipment, I like to learn about it as well as learn about the market, new innovations coming out, and getting connected to people who are making these products.
What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing a career in the renewable energy space?
I would say the biggest piece of advice I would have to give would be to not be afraid to put yourself out there. I got all of my jobs by just going for it and emailing my resume to companies that I thought looked good or people I’d like to work with. That’s how I got my position at Harvest Solar, I was searching for solar companies and emailing them my resume. I think that's really satisfying because you’re choosing what you want to do rather than finding open positions and fitting into that role.
