Spring Semester is now in session.

School is back in session. This semester is the end of my year at San Juan College. I am already putting a resume together and writing up cover letter samples. I knew it would fly by once I got here, and it has. 

Last summer and last semester had preliminary and background work that applied to the future. Instead of hanging solar panels and making power from the sun, I found myself using an oscilloscope and looking at how small components affect circuits. I know this work will pay off, but I always want to just jump in and get wet.

This semester is all relevant. This is the Renewable Energy Gravy Train coursework.

Coursework for the semester:
Carl is teaching PV Theory and System Design. We’ll be doing a lot of calculating systems sizes and designing systems for different situations. Lot’s of spreadsheets which will keep my brain occupied. 

Tom is teaching Part 2 of the PV Installation class. The whole semester is hands on building systems and generating power from the sun. Also we’ll be going through the National Electric code (NEC) for PV systems in depth. 

Bill is teaching AC and DC motors for renewable energy. Taking them apart, putting them back together. It is very hands on and high voltage. This will be good to know since wind power being the cheapest way to create large scale electricity, even competing against the massive government subsidies for coal. Wind power uses motors and generators more than Solar PV electricity does.

Old Dr. Methusala is back to teach the NEC for electricians. Zzzzzz. Still dry, but it is what it is and it needs to be learned. On the bright side he pronounces “wire” as “waaaarrrrr” and the word is used frequently, and then every time he says “waaarrrr” the Navajo power plant guys in the class all mimic it. “Waaarrrr”, “waaarrrr”, “waaarrrr”, “waaarrrr” crop up in each corner. Since it is an evening class everyone (or possibly just me) is hungry, crabby, grouchy, tired, and generally punchy anyhow, it passes the time. Try it out. Also string it together with other words, like the Apple product “Firewire” properly pronounced “FaaarrrrrWaaarrrrrr”. That's good, ain't it?

Last is my elective. This one is a toss up. I’ve only had one class so this is a first impression. Katrina, a sort of urban farmer hippie chick, teaches about sustainable lifestyles. Day 1 we talked about different topics and then we made vegetable smoothies. I’m not sure it is going to be an academic juggernaut, but it should be entertaining. (And keep us regular if that's an issue for anyone.)

Perfect schedule? Maybe not perfect. Is the program good? Absolutely. I’m positively doing the right thing here. I’m excited to get into the real coursework for the semester and then find myself a new job for the summer! We've got a whole world to save from us!