Even when you're wrong

I am super excited to be finally fulfilling my dream and my passion, to be finally fulfilling my real destiny: that of combining software engineering and renewable energy.

It is my destiny to be a software engineer in the renewable energy industry.

And so here I am: writing about both.

Because that is what I want to do: to answer the question "How can software engineering help renewable energy?"

I have gathered a collection of 10-15 resources and will be analysing them closely over the next couple of months. 

Or maybe years. 

If I spent the next ten years answering the question "How can software engineering help renewable energy?" then where could it take me I wonder? What about 10 more after that? And another 10?

Or more importantly: how could my question deepen as I continue to ask it over the years? 

And p.s. can it be done in a blog which takes 50% of its titles from Lana del Rey? Can it be done by a nerdy girl who brings teddy bear to work? Well - why not?

How can software engineering help the energy transition?

The industry is lacking people with both sets of skills: software engineering and renewable energy.

In order to truly power the renewable energy transition, we need people skilled in both. 

Energy and utilities companies need truly highly skilled software engineers if they are to build and to flesh out their own tech.

This ties in with my own life goals; I aim to become a highly skilled software engineer. I am a trainee right now, lucky enough to be learning from a team of outstandingly skilled seniors and mid level developers. My goal is definitely to become a senior myself and then to expand on that. I would likely to become a highly, highly skilled senior software engineer. The second problem that the energy industry faces also ties in with my own personal goals as well: "energy industry expertise". Many many software engineers do not have the high level of energy industry expertise needed to really know what technologies are needed in order to empower the energy transition.

Again this ties in beautifully with my goals; I aim to know the energy industry. I love the renewable energy industry, and I aim to know it very very well. I guess that this could be a part of my life's mission then; to really get to know the (renewable) energy industry.

To really get to know its highs and lows and its policies. I guess this asks a very real question though: when in the day. 

When in the day do I have time to do this. I am a very very busy trainee software engineer; as it is my time is highly constrained. How many articles a day do I have to read to really keep up with the energy industry? Or is it per week? How much do I need to read not just to understand this industry but to understand its evolution as well and to spot the patterns over time?

Interestingly this bit ignites me with less passion. 

I feel that building my A-game as a software engineer is the real challenge; but clearly I need enough expertise in the energy industry in order to bring this expertise to the table as well. So how am I going to do this? So how much do I need? It shouldn't be a chore. 

So how am I going to do this - and how am I going to make sure that I have enough? I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. 

Quoting a beautiful article

"To make the energy transition real and efficient, contemporary energy business needs experts skilled in both: cutting-edge technologies and energy sector specifics. This combination provides the best resources to build the bridge between the old, obsolete energy model and the needed new one. Founded on sustainability, innovation, and expertise." - Jonna Wroniak, for Codibly - article here.

I have a huge energy industry background. I think I underestimate my knowledge of it. Indeed I think that my challenge will be the software engineering side of it, especially and at least for now.

I already am learning so much by working in the industry. And hopefully by doing this project I will learn even more.

And I am only just touching my real codebase and maybe need to focus on that for now. 

The time to really research the renewable energy will come. My time will come.

It is important to never forget this, and to never lose sight of this goal. And maybe I can do a little bit along the way. A little goes a long way sometimes. I just need to figure out how and what the best way to do this in is. 

Right now, I will just focus on the intersection between software engineering and the renewable energy. 

For now, this will be my goal. Remember that I am doing an apprenticeship and working.

My goal is to understand my team's work and to complete my tickets as work. After all - if I don't make it as an engineer then how will my goal ever be possible?

Therefore, just to repeat it: My goal is to contribute to my team through tickets and understand my team's work. 

More concretely, my job is to well do my job: learn at work and in courses. 

To complete my apprenticeship.

And outside of work I am also working on a side project: this exact one.

Trying to answer the question: how can software engineering help the renewable energy industry?

And I also may have a quick data literacy course coming up on the side as well...

But yeah: job for now - apprenticeship and code work - it is one and the same. And side project - how can software engineering help the renewable energy industry.

And then the data literacy course as well. Why do I feel so chaotic?

Even when you're wrong...

The title of this blog post is the last line of Lana del Rey's 'Paris, Texas'.

"When you're right, you're right

When you're right, you're right

Even when you're wrong".

I'm still listening to it on repeat. It's so beautiful. I can't. It's so beautiful. It's so soft and so gentle. 

I want to be soft and gentle as well. To be an expert, and to be soft and gentle with it as well. What is the point in doing anything in this world without love?

Energy Investments

Two of the biggest energy investments in recent years are said to be renewable energy and digitalisation and technology.

In the energy world, surely being expert in both software engineering and renewable energy would make me an absolute powerhouse.

Renewable energy is said to have been dominated by wind and solar energy in recent years. My research on software engineering in the renewable energy industry surely supports this.

Digital investment in the energy industry focuses on automated distribution, smart metering (I know a thing or two about that, having worked in it before - quite a bit!!!), and "solutions for home energy management systems" - that last one is definitely my area of expertise! As it's a huge part of my current role and company. Not only that but I specialised in it in my last job too, when I was in Product, before I became an engineer. And I think this is fundamentally my mission - the empowerment of home energy management systems in the renewable energy transition. Wow. This is amazing. This is incredible. I am incredible. I am so happy. Wow.

From Hardware to Software

Recent investments in the energy industry have been progressing from hardware to software over the years and I find that fascinating. Moreover, they will probably continue to move in that way.

The idea is that now software has more capacity to drive and improve the renewable energy industry's growth than new hardware does. 

"Generation, storage, distribution, and consumption" - all four of these essential areas of the energy industry have the power to be improved and driven by great software - wow.

WOW.