As Holocene engages and streamlines the solar life cycle, we want to recognize the challenges and changes our team and those in our market address. In an industry historically male dominated, we want to celebrate women this International Women’s Day who are working to change the landscape of renewable energy.
Kathy Miller, co-founder and CEO of Yes Solar Solutions, is one of the foremost female entrepreneurs in the North Carolina solar industry. In honor of International Women’s Day, we asked her to give some insight into how the solar industry is changing, and where women fit into the picture.
Holocene Clean Energy: How have you seen the solar industry change over the years, both for women specifically and overall?
Kathy Miller: The solar industry, unfortunately, has not seen as much change for women as we might have expected. When we founded Yes Solar Solutions in 2009, I was the only woman in the building for quite a few years (although we were a pretty small team). We did add a female solar installer who held her own and got NABCEP certified within two years, and our Director of Finance is a woman.
I have noticed more women in renewable energy conferences and on boards over the last few years. The industry is maturing to a degree, which means our workforce is maturing. When we started we were a team of mostly young, white male recent college graduates. Increased diversity has resulted in our company including more people of color, [and] more diverse work experience in trades like roofing, electrician, and construction.
Where everyone in 2009-2013 was young, we have seen our team get married, have children, buy houses and need more work life balance and higher incomes. Providing health insurance used to be relatively inexpensive with just young males, but including spouses and children has increased cost. Our 401K used to be a small piece of our cost, but with a larger group and higher salaries, those costs have risen dramatically. Ultimately, it is up to women leaders in solar to make room for more women in solar.
HCE: What will it take to get women in solar?
KM:
Ultimately, it is up to women leaders in solar to make room for more women in solar.
As our company human resources manager, among other hats I wear, I post jobs, vet resumes, interview and hire. I wish I got more resumes from women, but I do see more women choosing degrees that will ultimately result in more women in solar. And as solar companies grow, there is more room for jobs not requiring specifically solar experience or education: project coordinating, law, marketing, finance, design, administrative (unfortunately often categorized as women’s occupations). Women getting a foot in the door in those roles are learning more about the solar business and advancing, our own Director of Finance, Bethany Theede, being a good example. She started as an administrative assistant, although with a degree in Environmental Studies, and of her own initiative, took on the interconnection process, eventually our accounting, and is now our go-to for job costing, profit and loss statements, and an integral part of our Leadership Team.
HCE: Do you have any bold predictions for the solar industry?
KM: I don’t know how bold my predictions are, since every day there are new developments in renewable energy that are both challenges and blessings. The challenge posed by the tariffs, for example, being announced within a week of Duke Energy’s proposed rebates. Tax credits pumping contracts in and then expiring. But I see opportunity everywhere, from energy storage to products that may make a whole roof solar, to technology we haven’t even seen yet. Yes Solar Solutions is on the energy storage bandwagon, having been the first certified Tesla Powerwall installer in North Carolina and we are installing them as fast as we can get them. Consumers are interested in having some independence from the utilities, and are willing to pay for it. They are also the biggest advocates for renewable energy and that segment gets larger every day. Despite the challenges of the “solar coaster” solar is not going away.
Learn more about Kathy’s journey into solar and her entrepreneurial spirit in Yes Solar Solution’s International Women’s Day Post
Learn more about our team at Holocene Clean Energy.