Business Development Solar Engineer – Solar – Cape Town

We are looking for a Cape Town-based Business Development Solar Engineer.

This role is responsible for engaging with the business development team, contractors and clients to complete the feasibility assessment required for newly identified projects, ensuring that all technical risks are mitigated from project inception, until project construction and that the project is designed to maximise value to all stakeholders. This requires a good understanding of energy markets and the ability to spot opportunities for enhancing the technical and commercial viability of projects.

The Business Development Engineer supports the business development team by verifying the technical aspects of the projects while ensuring the readiness of the project for crowd sale and project construction phases. This includes ensuring that all techno-commercial variables such as the client’s energy costs, and solar yield production, are accurately modelled and that the system is specifically designed to best meet the demands of the site. The Business Development Engineer will assist the project manager by providing insight into the technical documents supplied by the Client or EPC and clarifying any risk factors which could jeopardise the crowdsale.

The Business Development Solar Engineer’s core function is to make sure that all projects which go to crowd sale have been technically vetted, as well as ensure that all technical information required by the sales and marketing team is made available to facilitate the crowdsale process.

Sun Exchange is a market leader in innovation that unlocks access to solar power, directly addressing some of the most critical sustainability challenges of our time. Since its founding in 2015, Sun Exchange has enabled solar power for more than 70 businesses, farms, schools and other organisations in South Africa. Its solar projects have generated more than 16 Gigawatt-hours of clean energy, avoiding more than 17,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. The Sun Exchange vision is a world where all people and organisations can harness affordable clean energy to ensure a healthy planet for future generations.

• Engineering degree

• 5+ years of experience
• Experience with solar energy modelling programs such as Helioscope and PV Syst.
• Ability to assess technical and commercial viability of projects.
• Ability to manage people and diplomatically adjust priorities to suit the needs of the team
• Able to translate complex technical issues into understandable everyday language.

• Review and assessment of system designs and output reports from Solar design programs such as Helioscope and PV Syst
• Review of technical drawings of buildings, and their electrical network, in order to identify tie-in locations, power flow, and possible technical challenges to the project that need to be mitigated
• Engagement with business developers, contractors and clients to ensure details of site assessment are accurately captured in the Project layouts and that the site is designed to maximise solar-specific yield.
• Review of available technical documentation for the project, and liaison with the business development team, to ensure that all requirements have been met and all technical risks have been mitigated prior to the crowdsale date.
• Calculation of expected self consumption and export amounts for a building and periodic monitoring of plants after energisation to verify estimations.
• Reviewing contractors’ design documents for accuracy and compliance with codes, and regulations, so that all projects remain legally compliant
• Research and development into the latest technologies available in the market which could improve The Sun Exchange’s offer.
• Market research into power marketing opportunities which the Sun Exchange could capitalise on such as wheeling, and cross-industry applications such as Bitcoin mining
• Process automation to facilitate comprehensive review of project opportunities and swift completion of feasibility assessments.
• Facilitate technical transparency during sale process
• Review of RFP responses for technical accuracy and verification that the optimal solution is being provided

• Positive, focused and solution-oriented individual.
• Driven personality, with a keen eye for detail.
• Excellent time management skills, ensuring timeous attendance to meetings, and meeting deliverable deadlines.
• Must have good problem-solving abilities.
• Must be able to walk far distances, and work for extended periods in direct sunlight or on rooftops.
• Fluent in English