I have had a busy two weeks revisiting some areas of campus for photovoltaic reports as well as continuing my work with the Equine Center interviews. However, the majority of my time has been spent researching solar thermal technologies in preparation for our upcoming campus wide feasibility analysis with respect to that technology. Both the Equine Center installation and the campus wide feasibility study are progressing smoothly as we approach the half way mark of the project.

Over the last two weeks I have spent my time finishing the fieldwork with the on-site surveys for the PV feasibility study. We have moved on from visiting the various locations to calculating the specifics of each possible installation and writing up formal summaries for each promising facility. Additionally, I have been extensively researching the various incentives offered by Vermont for solar installations and exploring the necessary requirements for each of our proposed installations to be applicable for the state programs.

During the past two weeks I have given the Equine Center opening ceremony the majority of my attention. This has included meeting with Jeff Wakefield, associate director of University Communications, who brought his experienced insights to the meeting. We discussed the guest list, the potential date and time for the event, our guest speakers, what we would need, etc; everything that needs to be finalized, the actual “planning” of the event.

Experience experience experience. That is what an internship entails; work experience, social experience, life experience. This internship has me enthused at the fact that I will have an experience of learning and creating, putting all my knowledge to the test. The Clean Energy Fund internship started with meeting the internship team, talking about our tasks and responsibilities, what we would like to gain from our experience, and what our advisors wanted from us.

Over the first week and a half of the Clean Energy Fund internship we have begun outlining the basic deliverables for the overall project and subsequently scheduling out the allotted work. The first few days consisted of meetings with both the UVM staff as well as the on-site CHA team members. I also met briefly with the construction team at the Miller Research Farm Equine Center to discuss the time frame for the solar installation.