to supply the entire Big
Bend/Davis Mountains area
or a city the size of San
Angelo, according to Matt
Held, Vice President Asset
Developement for Solaire
Direct, the plant’s owner.
This particular plant is of the
photovoltaic class, with the
power dumping anonymously
into the grid. The other type,
concentrated solar power, is
the Eye of Sauron type – the
glass and steel version – where
tons of mirrors focus solar
energy into a small beam,
which is then used to heat
water and generate electricity
through steam power.
The job took about six
months to complete, with an
average workforce of about
180-200 (with peak around
225-230 for about six weeks)
including managers, engi-
neers and supervisors. Held
said, “We had very strong
turnout from around the area,
so a good pool of applicants to
choose from including folks
who worked some of the solar
jobs in Pecos County.”
Many of us are familiar
with the oil field line of work;
perhaps we’ve experienced
some of the cash flow from it
ourselves, directly or indirect-
ly. But what do we know
about solar workers? What
kinds of people choose the
renewable energy route both
as a job and as a consumer?
Paul Sojen is a Quality
Assurance Technician who
worked at the farm in Alpine
during construction. Prior to
working solar, he did time in
the oil field and travelled
throughout the Permian
Basin. “I just kind of go every-
where,” Sojen said. “When I
get a new gig, I go to the loca-
tion and hope to find housing,
mostly looking on Craig’s list
for trailers for rent or rooms.”
It’s not a life conducive to a
relationship or a family, or
even a home. “I feel like a
wandering ghost,” he said.
“Some people think it’s cool,
and I’ve made pretty good
money. If I want to call some-
where home, when would I
ever be there?” Drifting
around is the nature of the
business, and he’s lived in
seven places in the last three
years. “When you finish a
project, just like in the oil
field, you move on – when
you’re done, you’re done,”
Sojen said. “If I really wanted
to settle down, I’d have to do
something different. There’s a
manufacturing plant in San
Antonio that makes parts for
the company I’m with now.
Maybe I could get on with
them in the QA department.”
The travel, which is a
downside, is also the benefit.
“If I want to see a new place,
I’m going,” Sojen said.
Another boon, according
to Sojen, is the pay. “At least
in the QA aspect the pay’s
pretty decent. The per diem is
good. It’s not strenuous or
stressful for the most part. It’s
cool, it’s laid back. It’s nothing
like the oil field, beating your
body up every day.”
The safety culture and the
work morale is a whole lot
better than oil field work,
Sojen said. “Oil field comes
from old school thinking, like
harder and meaner is better.
There’s not all that macho,
ego crap in solar.”
Although Sojen transi-
tioned seamlessly from Alpine
to a solar farm in McCamey,
steady work is not always the
case; it could be a delay of sev-
eral months if there are no
projects in the pipeline. “If
you’re a solid worker,” Sojen
said, “they’ll keep you
informed.” Sojen said a cou-
ple weeks after being in his
new location, he had an
epiphany: “I did not realize
how beautiful Alpine is. It’s
like an oasis for these parts.”
Sojen likes working in
renewable energy, and calls it
the cutting edge of the world’s
future. “I’m getting lots of
experience, marketable expe-
rience, and learning new, cool
things. The vibe is different.
Oil field is fighting and abu-
sive; solar is completely differ-
ent. It has a more positive
vibe. The oil field seems like
it’s a dinosaur.”
Along with utilizing the
local labor pool, specialized
workers came in from all over
the United States as well as
Europe and Asia. Chuck
Fernandez is one of 15 com-
missioners at a company that
programs, repairs and trou-
bleshoots the equipment that
tracks the sun. The company
he works for goes out to solar
plants near the end of the con-
struction phase when it’s
mechanically complete to set
up the software, getting it
working and fully functional.
“We
test
everything,”
Fernandez
said,
“Functionality,
voltage,
mechanical.” (At the plant in
Alpine, every row has its own
computer, as opposed to
being on a giant link where
upwards of 40 rows are con-
nected to one motor; on
those, if one goes down, all the
connected rows go offline.)
Fernandez
lives
in
California, close to Palm
Springs. He came from the
wind turbine field and gravi-
tated to solar. He’s been all
over California in the year
and a half he’s worked for his
current employer, as well as
Utah, Kansas, Georgia and
more recently, Alpine, Texas.
Fernandez goes home
every week unless it’s crunch
time at one of the jobs and he
needs to hammer it through,
he said. As he does get to be
home most weekends, he
enjoys the traveling and meet-
ing a plethora of new people.
“There’s so much cama-
raderie, especially like if
you’re on a huge site for eight
months.” (For perspective, a
huge site would be one rough-
ly the size of Alpine.)
Fernandez liked working in
the little town of Alpine.
“Here is nice – I like it,” he
said. “Everyone is so nice and
generous. It’s been a good
experience. You don’t always
get that.”
Carolyn Macartney is an
Alpine resident on the other
end of the solar spectrum; she
recently acquired solar for her
continued on page 20
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