At utility-scale solar installations, technicians work with rapidly evolving technologies in photovoltaic (PV) modules, inverters, and metering. Whether you’re commissioning, maintaining, or troubleshooting a PV system, the stakes for safety are high — and you need PV tester tools designed to handle the job.
Watch solar training and safety expert Stephen San Juan of Rise Renewable Energy talk about his experiences and why solar professionals use Fluke tools.
Video transcript:
I was transitioning out of the Navy and looking for a job that was technical. I enjoyed troubleshooting. I enjoyed working with my hands, and I enjoyed being outside.
This was 10 years ago. I didn't have a deep passion for renewables. It was quite literally what's gonna put food on the table for my kids and my family.
Since then, I've developed a deep passion for what renewables are, as I've learned more about what they do and the impact they're having on the overall planet. Power production, in general, is just an exciting way you're supporting an overall system with effects globally.
Obviously, everyone uses electricity, in some way, shape, or form. I have traveled all around the world for solar, working on it. But here in the US, being able to put my fingerprint on my neighborhood, my community, is one of the things I enjoy about working in utility-scale power.
Solar specifically, I've developed a deep passion for. The technology is ever improving. And it's being on the cusp of all the latest and greatest technologies, from metering to the inverter technologies, the solar module technologies, and so on. Just amazing to be able to say that, hey, I am working on the highest tech industries out there.
Safety is always paramount. You have to have the most safe environment at all times. And your meter, you're trusting it with your life.
The most useful feature of this meter that the solar industry needs is the 1500 volt rating CAT III, something that the industry desperately needs. The internal fusing and protection features are almost idiot-proofing a meter, so that a manager can stick this in someone's hand and it's going to get the job done safely, with that Fluke backing that the industry knows and loves.