The SREC (Solar Renewable Energy Credit) customer support team at Sol Systems provides in-house services and assistance to more than 18,500 customers and partners. Our Service Spotlight Series gives our clients the chance to learn more about the individuals that support their SREC solutions. Today we chatted with our Customer Service Analyst, Lucas Ludgate.
Lucas Ludgate is an SREC Customer Operations Analyst on the SREC team.
1. What brought you to Sol Systems?
I knew a couple of people that were working with Sol, and they all spoke very highly of the company. During my interview, everyone that I talked to was extremely passionate and loved the work they were doing. I started in February of this year, and I’ve been really enjoying it.
2. What motivated you to pursue a career in renewable energy?
In college, I majored in Environmental Studies, and I always knew that I wanted to pursue a career in the renewables industry. I wanted to find meaning in my work and be able to create impact. Whether you’re building a solar array or assisting in the payments for solar renewable energy credits, the people at Sol can see the positive attributes of their work.
3. Why do you like working with SRECs specifically?
They’re a great incentive to get people to go solar. Personally, I love to help people and solve problems and my work combines those to make sure people are getting incentives for their decision to switch to renewable energy.
4. What’s your favorite part of working on a customer service team?
I love it when there is a tricky situation and either myself or my team can turn it around, resolve the issue, and make the customer happy. It’s also nice knowing that the work that I do helps our clients regain faith in the company.
5. Outside of Sol Systems, what do you like to do for fun?
I love to golf. I played golf in college and enjoy getting out on the course with friends. I also love to cook, specifically Italian food. I went to Italy for my honeymoon, and it’s something my wife and I love to do together.
Breaking the (Photovoltaic) Glass Ceiling – Celebrating Women’s History Month at Sol Systems
Company Culture |
By The Sol Systems Team
March of every year is dedicated to Women’s History Month, where women are celebrated for their contributions to society and how their actions have changed the world. The observance of the month was established after a weeklong celebration established by Congress in 1986. And now as we honor Women’s History Month, it is important to note the incredible contributions of so many different women that come from a multitude of backgrounds, each shaping the world as we know it today.
Sol Systems is committed to creating pathways for more women and diverse leaders and working to drive inclusion on an industry-wide level. Although women only make up about 26% of the solar industry, those 26% are breaking the mold for what it means to be a leader in the renewables space and opening doors for younger generations to pursue even bigger dreams. At Sol, our commitment does not stop after our monthlong celebration of Women’s History Month. We are committed to supporting courageous and leading women both internal and external, brake even more glass ceilings, and open new and rewarding renewable energy opportunities to every woman.
Through our Empowering Women series on LinkedIn, we interviewed the women working within Sol Systems about what makes them feel empowered and solicited advice that they would give to someone looking to pursue a similar career path. It was particularly insightful to learn different facts about each person that drove their dedication and commitment to renewable energy and life in general. To see some of our features, check out our LinkedIn page.
Our celebration even included a women’s history trivia night that incorporated groundbreaking facts about women leaders. We played against one another on smaller teams and included questions about women in science and technology, sports, politics, and music. Did you know that in 1988, Patricia Bath became the first African-American woman to receive a medical patent for laser cataract surgery? We discussed the importance of these groundbreaking moments in each of the categories and how much of an impact these figures have made on their industry and many times individually.
Finally, the women working at Sol came together for virtual happy hour, a tradition where the women of our organization get together to learn more about one another and to discuss life and career. Although our happy hours are usually in person, the same special moments were felt with gratitude.
The Women of Sol Systems during our virtual happy hour.
Women’s History Month may only be one month a year, but we’re making it a priority to celebrate the women of Sol and the female leaders in the solar industry 365 days a year. We hope to continuously inspire all women to purse their dream career, whether that be in solar or any other industry.
Miles Braxton Wins Clean Energy Leader Institute 2020 JEDI Award
Company News |
By The Sol Systems Team
On August 29th, Miles Braxton, Business Development Associate at Sol,received the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) award. This prestigious and outstanding award is given to an individual that inspires other clean energy leaders to constantly feel empowered, make a lasting difference, and build a better, clean energyfuture.
[caption id="attachment_7180" align="alignright" width="214"] Miles Braxton is a Business Development Associate on the Sol Customer Solutions team.[/caption]
The award was given through the emPOWER20 conference held by the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, featuring a series of clean energy subject matter experts focusing on equity and investing in a clean energy future for all.
Miles began speaking publicly about clean energy a year after graduating from the University of Virginia,following an inspiring conversation with Sean Bogle, Assistant Dean of School Affairs for the Yale School of Environment.From there, Miles started his collegiate speaker series focused on fostering diversity as aclean energy advocate.
Over the past year, Miles has spoken at severalprestigiousuniversities including Columbia, Duke, UNC Clean Tech Summit, and USC. His mission is to empower young, BIPOC to navigatetheir own career path andachieve their goals through the clean energy space. In addition, Miles is working on an exciting project to further help empower and continuously engagewith young leaders in all energy fields and environmental attributes.
With this award, Miles will continue to empower young professionals to pursue their aspirations and take the first step towards to achieving those goals.
Lauren Miller Elected to MDV-SEIA Board of Directors
Company News |
By The Sol Systems Team
On June 19th, MDV-SEIA members elected Lauren Miller, Senior Associate of Policy at Sol Systems, to the organization’s board of directors. The election took place on June 8-19 with 21 applicants vying to fill 8 seats on the member board.
MDV-SEIA is the overarching organization that promotes solar energy policy and growth through legislative and regulatory affairs in Maryland, DC, Delaware, and Virginia. As a board member, Lauren will provide guidance to staff at MDV-SEIA to promote renewable energy growth in state markets, as well as assist with fundraising goals to help the association move forward with overarching goals. Lauren hopes to continue solar growth in MDV-SEIA's primary markets with legislative and regulatory wins. These policies include interconnection in the District, net metering in Maryland, and the Virginia Clean Economy Act.
Lauren has been a part of the Sol System’s team for 5 years, beginning her career on the REC aggregation team. Through this role, Lauren had the opportunity to engage with thousands of Sol customers, help manage REC portfolios internally, and gain insight on how RPS policies function. In her current position as a Senior Policy Associate, Lauren oversees Sol Systems’ businesses’ relationships with industry associations, state public utility commissions, and legislatures across the country.
Lauren’s nomination to MDV-SEIA's board of directors continues Sol Systems’ focus on regulatory work in active markets with the opportunity to become more healthily engaged, especially within the Mid-Atlantic region.
Sol Systems, a national solar finance and development firm, delivers sophisticated, customized services for institutional, corporate, and municipal customers. Sol is employee-owned, and has been profitable since inception in 2008. Sol is backed by Sempra Energy, a $25+ billion energy company.
Over the last ten years, Sol Systems has delivered 800 MW of solar projects for Fortune 100 companies, municipalities, universities, churches, and small businesses. Sol now manages over $650 million in solar energy assets for utilities, banks, and Fortune 500 companies.
Inc. 5000 recognized Sol Systems in its annual list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies for four consecutive years. For more information, please visit www.solsystems.com
Business as Unusual: One Company’s Story of Adapt and Adopt Part 2 (of 3): Culture, Family, and Love
Company Culture |
By The Sol Systems Team
At
a time when all of us need the support of our friends and families to cope with
the impacts of COVID-19, we also find ourselves isolated. Fortunately, thanks
to 2020 technology, digital portals offer new and creative ways to keep
connected to our families, friends, and coworkers so none of us feel alone.
In
part one of our “Business as Unusual” series about how one company, Sol, is
adapting, we shared tools
and methods for being productive as we push toward continued company and
industry growth. For part two, we’d like to shift gears and share ways we are
engaging our community and connecting with each other, preserving what makes
Sol so special.
Game Night – Kate
Brandus – Director, SREC Asset Management
In late March, I had a game night with my cousins using the "Houseparty"
app. This was my first time doing a virtual game night, but it ended up being
ton of fun! Prior to the COVID crisis, Sol Systems would host game nights every
month or so, and they were always a great time and good for team building. So I
decided to bring the game I played with my cousins to my coworkers and host our
first virtual game night.
The game night ended
up being a lot of fun and provided me with an opportunity to bond with
colleagues after work that I normally wouldn't have had the opportunity to.
Intranet Channels –
Ann Sweitzer – Human Resources Director
When we transitioned
to a remote work environment in early March due to COVID-19, one question that
we wanted to address was, “How do we
maintain our culture and employee morale in a remote environment?” What
makes Sol a special place is our people and we wanted to ensure that everyone
felt connected and engaged even though we were no longer together in the
office. We got creative and implemented various virtual sessions including
coffee meetings, morning mindfulness, evening happy hours, yoga, lunch time
roundtables, book clubs, etc., to keep the team engaged.
It was important for
us to be inclusive of all so we also used the platform Microsoft Teams to
foster communication in a remote setting and created channels Working While Parenting, Mental Health &
Wellbeing, and other groups. Channels are built around a topic where you
can hold meetings, having conversations and share resources. We also created
the Sol Hub in SharePoint as a landing page for company events, project wins,
special life events, COVID-19 related news and general team resources.
We’re continuing to
think of ideas on how we can foster our Sol culture in a remote workforce.
During this challenging time with unprecedented change and uncertainty, it is
more important than ever that our team feels supported, engaged and connected.
Sourdough Roundtable
– Sandhya Mahadevan – Business Development Senior Associate
The
thing I miss the most about being in the office is being around people I care
about and catching up on their lives. We have an extremely caring and social
culture at the office, and something everyone can connect to is food. Before
COVID, coworkers often brought in treats to share with the office, whether they
be home-made or from travel. Now in isolation, an extra focus on cooking has
become a welcome distraction, and our team has naturally been chatting more
about our culinary creations even if we can’t physically share food with one
another.
As
someone who is extremely new to bread-baking, I had questions and knew a few
people who were seasoned bakers. I collected questions in advance and sent them
to my “panelists” in preparation for a Q&A session about sourdough that we
held over video chat. People really enjoyed it, and at the very least, I
learned some new tips for my sourdough technique. I may try to host another
roundtable in the next month, potentially on coffee. Similar to sourdough, I’m
no expert on coffee, but I’m curious, and I need something to obsess over
besides washing my hands.
Sol’s coffee culture
runs deep. At any given hour in Sol’s history, two or more people are sure to
be connecting on business, family, or just fun matters over a cup of joe. In
fact, the coffee connection is so important to our bonds that it’s incorporated
into onboarding for new team members. Whether they enjoy java or prefer another
beverage, a full line-up of coffee chats is scheduled to kick off their Sol
careers with a full cup.
Fast forward to 2020
stay at home. From day one of the company starting to work 100% remotely, we
formalized and reinforced our coffee culture to maintain our community
connections even when telecommuting.
We booked team coffee
chats, at first daily, and then 2-3 times a week via Teams video. We have
actually connected even more often and more broadly through our virtual coffee
chats. We tackle any concerns if they come up, plan out the day, meet our
teammates children, dogs, and cats, and get virtual home tours.
Turns out the Sol
coffee culture is a cornerstone of our resilience toolbox as we work together
to reduce the impacts of COVID-19 on our business and in our communities.
Business Book Club –
Mike Gibson – Chief Technology Officer
Self-improvement and professional development are very important to the members of the Sol Systems team. I myself am a fan of the aphorism "a rising tide lifts all boats" - the more we can develop our individual talents and understanding of their application to our business, the better we'll perform and the more good we can do as an organization. To help in "raising the tide," we started a Business Book Club at Sol. The club is open to all members of the Sol Systems team, regardless of position or title. Each month, the club sponsors a discussion of a business or management book and its application to our work at Sol.
Thanks to the fantastic suite of Office 365 products from Microsoft, the club hasn't skipped a beat during the shift to remote work - meetings have moved from the conference room to Microsoft Teams, and participation has remained steady. With these tools, we're able to collaborate as if nothing has changed, and continue to maintain a level of personal interaction that we otherwise might have lost.
ABOUT SOL SYSTEMS
Sol Systems is a leading national solar energy firm with an established reputation for integrity and reliability across its development, infrastructure and environmental commodity businesses.To date, Sol has developed and/or financed over 850 MW of solar projects valued at more than $1 billion for Fortune 100 companies, municipalities, counties, utilities, universities and schools. The company also actively shapes and trades in environmental commodity and electricity markets throughout the United States. The company was founded in 2008, is based in Washington D.C, and is led by its founder. Sol Systems works with its team, partners, and clients to create a more sustainable future we can all believe in. For more information: www.solsystems.com
Business as Unusual: One Company’s Story of Adapt and Adopt Part 1 (of 3): Productivity Tools that Work So We Can
Company Culture |
By The Sol Systems Team
Here we are, all of us together, arguably facing the
biggest challenge, threat, and opportunity of our lives. Emotions of disbelief,
or maybe fear and grief, are giving way to ingenuity and perseverance. As the
ground shifts under our feet, so do our priorities.
Just as many of you have shared your tips and
inspirations to push forward and stay connected, the Sol team would like to
share what we are doing to make the company, team, and ourselves individually,
even stronger.
We hope you find new ideas and resources you can use
from this three-part series of what and how Sol is adapting in real time to be
as, if not more, productive and connected as ever. Together, we will achieve
our 2020 goals, and come out on the other side even more able.
Tom Griffin, Development Engineer
“We have both business analysts and engineers using Helioscope for high level project assessment. It allows those with little to no technical background to effectively assess a project site. If the project looks like it may be worth something, it typically then gets a deeper dive from someone on the engineering team before any numbers are put in front of the customer. Because Helioscope is cloud-based, it enables real-time collaboration, sharing of designs and work products, and for other teammates, to access deliverables remotely so they can monitor the status of design efforts.”
Jill Rathke, Business Development Analyst
“When working remotely, agendas sent around in advance are particularly useful for collaboration in meetings with large numbers of attendees, especially in Microsoft Teams! The agenda allows for easier delegation, more smooth transitions (especially if attendees can send a Teams chat to stay included in discussion without interruption), and makes it easier for the meeting leader to efficiently get through all discussion topics. Also, remote work makes virtual meetings an important opportunity for social interaction. I add an agenda item at the beginning or end of a meeting for catching-up, sharing a story, bringing a pet or child to say hi, etc., because this not only provides structure to the meeting, it prioritizes the space to foster the colleague friendships that make Sol Systems such a fun place to work.”
Rob Pierno, Business Development Manager
“LinkPoint is spectacular and a huge time saver. The
Business Development team at Sol Systems uses LinkPoint to upload outgoing
emails and automatically log all incoming emails to the corresponding
Salesforce Account. It saves the team time and prevents user error from
forgetting to log important communications in our CRM.”
Rob’s quarantine highlight has been witnessing his daughter take her first steps
Sandhya Mahadevan, Business Development Senior Associate
“Our customer relationship management (CRM) tool, Salesforce, provides our sales with visibility into customer-specific information in a centralized location. We use it to track project-specific information like the customer’s annual electricity usage, price of power, and preferred contract term length. This type of information helps the team design the right type of system and contract structure for the customer. It saves me a lot of time by clearly outlining next steps on an opportunity. Rather than having to search through my emails or tap a co-worker on the shoulder, I can easily see if someone has assigned me a task in Salesforce. Salesforce is expressly designed as an online tool because sales teams are often spread out geographically to be closer to the customers they serve, so it’s working seamlessly for our team while we’re working from home. ”
Adam Polis, Performance Engineer
“I’m a big fan of the “Linkclump”
extension in Chrome. It enables the user to be able to open up to 20 tabs at
once with one click. I use it for opening all of my sites at the same time. I
also use it when going through annual reports where I have to open a ton of
pictures at the same time. I’m using it even more now that we’re all working
remotely. It’s a small tool that makes a huge difference.”
Brenda Cordero, Project Coordinator
“Our project management platform, Procore, is indispensable to our team because it gives us one area to manage nearly every aspect of the project lifecycle, including engineering drawings, submissions, punch list items, and other action items. We were able to customize this to best fit our team and project processes. This allows us to easily share information with new hires joining our team, and how to best share information with third party project managers, construction managers, and contractors. We have been using this tool with remote workers for more than two years, so it’s an integral tool for us now that our entire team is working from different locations.”
*Disclaimer: These tools are not formally endorsed by Sol Systems, nor did we earn any kind of compensation for including them here. Opinions expressed are specific to the noted team members.
ABOUT SOL SYSTEMS
Sol Systems is a leading national solar energy firm with an established reputation for integrity and reliability across its development, infrastructure and environmental commodity businesses.To date, Sol has developed and/or financed over 850 MW of solar projects valued at more than $1 billion for Fortune 100 companies, municipalities, counties, utilities, universities and schools. The company also actively shapes and trades in environmental commodity and electricity markets throughout the United States. The company was founded in 2008, is based in Washington D.C, and is led by its founder. Sol Systems works with its team, partners, and clients to create a more sustainable future we can all believe in. For more information: www.solsystems.com
Miles Braxton is a Business Development Associate on the Sol Customer Solutions team.[/caption]
