By Sloane Morgan
LinkedIn
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Hey all you Clean Tech Enthusiasts out there! I've met some great clean energy companies over the past several weeks. They're doing great work to make the world a better place: 

Check out Swell Energy. They are selling a bundled product of solar + storage they call EnergyShield, premium black panel solar generation and a compact lithium-ion storage cell in SCE, a Southern CA utility. SCE is innovating and picking up where the fossil fuel-powered grid leaves off. Swell offers financing and is leading on good CX with their one click application for state and federal incentives. As of August 2017, SCE commissioned Swell to bring the largest fleet of home batteries (they are Tesla certified installer) the world has ever seen, effectively creating a “smart” grid that will help solve major supply issues facing Southern California. I want this in PGE territory! I don’t want my solar to go offline if the grid goes out (which is what would happen to me —and most other solar customers — under my current grid tied solar system). This Swell + SCE project is our future. 

I’m also impressed by  Drift, an online marketplace that allows consumers to buy energy  at the lowest available price whether directly from the local grid, the wind farm outside of town, or even their neighbor’s solar panels. Drift is focusing on customers in New York City, and it takes just minutes to make the switch to cleaner power. Founders were in a band together before they started their first company, and now showing their many talents by helping customers save money on energy costs by rethinking the supply chain paying.

Lastly, the folks at  Zero Mass Water  are magicians. Their product is a solar system that pulls water out of air. Millions of people on the planet need this product!  Water vapor is extracted as pure water & is mineralized for taste. Without pipes or plastic chemicals, the water is of the highest quality without the vulnerability of infrastructure. Easy to purchase systems are customizable to match your family/garden needs. These folks are working out of the University of Arizona and have created a cool product with endless opportunity for ‘democratizing’ the ownership of clean water.

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I've had  more than a few people ask me about how to get into clean energy.  They're tired of woking at a company that  isn't meaningful.

Good news, it's easy to get into clean energy!

Clean energy companies are just like other companies, they need  business and technical people.  If you  know operations, marketing, finance, engineering (software and others), HR, clean energy companies will want to hire you.  Clean energy companies need professional s that bring their expertise from other industries into clean energy.  

You can apply for open job descriptions, but it's best to meet a few people in the energy industry  so they can help connect you to the right hiring manager.  The best way to meet people in the industry you want to work in is by going to events.  To overcome 

Events:

• CleanwebSF
• Young Professionals in Energy (Bay Area)
• Software for Renewable Energy - Bay Area

How to come up to speed on the industry:

• Energy Gang
• SolarWakeUp