We recently hosted a work experience placement for Theo, who has just completed his GCSEs. He did an amazing job from a standing start, getting a solar proposal in front of the building manager in 4 days flat using our tools and team support. Proud of you, Theo! Here’s his week in his own words.
Hi, I’m Theo Wood and recently took part in a project at Big Solar Co-op where I worked on bringing solar power to my local sports club where I play cricket and hockey. I really enjoyed working on the project knowing I was benefitting my club, the Big Solar Co-op and the environment all at the same time. And the fact that I was able to get a working presentation for the club done in just under a week was amazing and eye opening, as I learnt that working on these solar panel projects was easier than I imagined. To show you what doing this project was like in a week I’ll go through it day by day, telling you about the various tasks I had to do to get this project completed.
Monday:
Monday was the start of my week of work on this, and I started it off with a meeting in the morning where the outline for what I would be doing this week was set out. I was then told about the various pieces of software that I would be using to complete the goals throughout the week. Once I had gotten started on those I quickly learnt how to use the intuitive solar panel design software called OpenSolar with the help of some tutorials found on the Big Solar Co-op Volunteer Members information website – Sol.
Tuesday:
I finalised the design in the morning of this day, and then sent the design off to the Big Solar Co-op Technical Lead, Chris Rigby who gave me feedback on how to improve my design. After following up on the feedback and tweaking my design accordingly I was very proud of how it turned out and was waiting for the meeting the next day that would begin the process of making the presentation itself.
Wednesday:
I started the day with a meeting with the Big Solar Co-op CEO, Jon Halle who did the financial model for the sports club solar proposal, he took me through the various figures that the model calculated. With the correct figures in hand I was able to put the relevant statistics into the presentation and begin preparing for the presentation I would be giving the next day.
Thursday:
Throughout the morning I was doing some last minute changes to the presentation and just getting ready in general to present in the afternoon. The CEO met up with me to discuss what we will do during the presentation and before long we were headed over to the club. The CEO allowed me to take charge during the presentation, only stepping in for the more complex questions that I wasn’t equipped to answer. Overall the presentation went really well and I was incredibly happy with how it turned out.
The whole week was very insightful as I realised how pretty much anyone can begin the process of making Solar and why solar isn’t viable for some businesses. From the experience I feel I have learnt a lot more about solar energy and its use and would consider this experience to be invaluable.