Growth of HVDC Power Transmission Should Bring Challenges and Opportunities For Power Electronics Engineers
By David G. Morrison, Editor, How2Power.com, July 2012
Over the last 50 years, high-voltage dc (HVDC) power transmission has made tremendous progress. As the technology improved and design challenges were overcome, voltages and power levels rose, while newer systems became smaller in size and offered greater control over power flow. Meanwhile, the time and manpower required to design HVDC power systems has greatly decreased. Nevertheless, growing demands for energy have increased the number of HVDC systems being designed and implemented, suggesting there will an ongoing need for more engineers in this field, including the power electronics (PE) engineers who design the multi-megawatt-scale ac-dc and dc-ac power converters that are at the heart of these systems. In this Power Supply Jobs & Technology feature, Roger Critchley, Head of Power Electronics at Alstom Grid’s Technology Centre, discusses at length the history of this field and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for current and future generations of PE engineers. Read the full article»
Power Electronics Engineers In The Solar Inverter Industry: Salary And Hiring Trends
By David G. Morrison, Editor, How2Power.com, April 2012
In this 5-minute presentation, I discuss salary and hiring trends in the solar inverter industry. To begin, I look at growth in the solar power industry and how this growth has produced numerous opportunities for power electronics engineers within companies that manufacture solar power inverters. With that as background, I present the results of a survey of solar inverter companies in which they were asked about the salaries they offer power electronics engineers and other EEs, the relative difficulty of hiring power electronics engineers, and plans for hiring of these engineers in the next five years. Read the full article»
PV Systems And Inverter Engineering Teams Are Scaling Up
By David G. Morrison, Editor, How2Power.com, December 2011
For engineers interested in the potential impact that a growing photovoltaic (PV) industry
could have on their career opportunities, the pool of current job openings in this field
provides another barometer of how much PV equipment manufacturers expect the industry to grow.
In this column, we once again focus on the opportunities for power electronics (PE) engineers
within solar inverter companies. In a previous column, we discussed the technical requirements
and experience sought by manufacturers for these types of positions. Here, we’ll discuss some
of the market trends that will influence the types of solar inverter design challenges PE
engineers will be called on to address in the years ahead. (See pages 44-46 of the source PDF.) Read the full article»
Wind Turbine Makers Turn to Power Electronics Engineers for Robust Solution
By David G. Morrison, Editor, How2Power.com, June 2011
A global wind power industry that has experienced rapid growth over the past decade predicts
much more of the same in the years ahead. Power electronics engineers, who play a critical role
in this industry in helping to develop wind turbines, can expect increasing demand for their
skills as the turbine manufacturers gear up to meet the technical challenges of the wind power
marketplace. This article discusses forecasts for growth in wind power including market share
among major turbine manufacturers, trends in wind power R&D spending, and challenges in the
development of power electronics for wind turbines. (See pages 48-50 of the source PDF.) Read the full article»
Forecasted Growth For Wind Power May Whip Up Demand for PE Engineers
By David G. Morrison, Editor, How2Power.com, January 2011
A study published last fall by the Global Wind Energy Council and Greenpeace International forecasts that wind power could generate up to 12% of the world’s electricity by 2020 and as much as 22% by 2030, given the adoption of favorable energy policies. If the reality comes close to these predictions, there should be great opportunities in the wind turbine industry for power electronics (PE) engineers. In this article, I highlight a few of the technical requirements for PE engineers working in this field and present example listings of current opportunities at various wind turbine manufacturers. Read the full article»
Solar Inverter Industry Offers Talented Engineers the Chance to Shine
By David G. Morrison, Editor, How2Power.com, December 2010
As manufacturers of solar power inverter gear up to meet the growing demands for their
products, many are expanding their engineering teams through hiring of additional power
electronics (PE) engineers and other electrical engineers (EEs). Manufacturers are looking for
both new grads and experienced engineers with strong theoretical and practical knowledge, and
in some cases, experience with high-reliability design. Competition for good candidates is said
to be very strong due to competition within the solar inverter industry and from other
industries. In this article, I share my discussion with executives at Enphase Energy and Eltek
Valere who described the requirements and opportunities for power electronics engineers and
other EEs in the solar inverter industry. (See pages 47-50 of source PDF.) Read the full article»
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