Sol-Ark Employee Spotlight: William Hopkins and Yang Chen

On this episode of Energy Unplugged, a Sol-Ark podcast, host Hilary Kennedy talked with Yang Chen, Engineer Support R&D Software Engineer, and William Hopkins, Electrical, Communications Engineer.

The trio talked about what it’s like to work at Sol-Ark and their own efforts, achievements and innovations. As product engineers, Hopkins and Chen have played an integral role in developing and selling Sol-Ark products and services.

These are the stories behind these members of the team.

William Hopkins: As a student in electrical engineering, Hopkins knew a friend that worked at Sol-Ark. He heard good things and wanted to work in the power industry because, if something goes wrong, it can blow up, he said, which makes it a bit more exciting.

In his role, Hopkins focuses heavily on battery communications.

“I basically help the batteries talk with the inverter, making the entire system more intelligent,” Hopkins said. “I feel like, over time, the first experiences I had getting communications to work between batteries and inverters and getting everything somewhat standardized – it kind of snowballed from there.”

Yang Chen: A recent graduate, Chen found looking for work during the COVID-19 pandemic to be difficult, and he heard good things about Sol-Ark, which was hiring.

Chen’s background is in software engineering. At the start, he didn’t have a ton of experience with solar and inverters. Sol-Ark gave him an excellent opportunity to learn on the job, then push himself to the next level, so he can start applying his background into his daily work. He plans to help on the R&D side and the support side, as well.

Listen to learn more about William’s and Yang’s daily work life at Sol-Ark.

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