By Kristan Kirsh
For the third year in a row, the Nextracker scholarship program Half the Sun was a hit with professional women around the world! For three years we’ve successfully partnered with Solar Energy International (SEI) to boost female participation in the solar workforce by offering solar training curricula through SEI’s program and pairing a 1:1 mentoring between scholars and Nextracker staff. This program means a great deal to me because I enjoy mentoring and honing my craft as a leader in our industry. In my role as SVP of Global Marketing I get to champion lots of voices and I couldn’t be more thrilled by what we’ve built over the years. I prefer not to witness change but be an active agent of change. I am a proud advocate for our many diversity, equity, and inclusion partnerships with Renewables Forward, Women in Cleantech and Sustainability (WCS), The Hidden Genius Project, the Solar Energy Industries Association, and more.
Awarded based on need and interest, Half the Sun provides six weeks of no cost, online solar coursework to women and non-binary individuals who hold degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or related fields. Awardees also gain access to networking, one-to-one mentoring, and local support through the Nextracker Women’s Employee Resource Group. As a Spanish speaker, it’s also meaningful to me that SEI offers curriculum in Spanish as well as English which allows us to extend the program to candidates in need of multilanguage support across five continents.
So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to this year’s phenomenal cohort of Half the Sun awardees. You will notice a theme as you read about their backgrounds: –they illustrate a generation of leaders who are positive role models for change. Many have persisted through adversity, financial hardship, and sometimes overt discrimination. Each person in this group has a bright future in the field of solar power generation, inspiring us to share best practices as we close the gender gap in our industry.
Nambuya Imbega
Kenya
With nearly ten years in the solar industry, Nambuya Imbega, is a single parent, has advanced from solar lantern sales to business development roles for engineering, procurement, and construction firms (EPCs), a global manufacturer, and an investor in renewable energy projects. Imbega helped one company establish two distribution warehouses and gain 12 percent market share in east Africa. Now more than ever, as Imbega negotiates power purchase agreements (PPAs) with private off takers, she says the need to learn technical solar concepts has never been more crucial.
Krizia Karry
United States
In 2017, after a hurricane struck Karry’s neighborhood in Puerto Rico and knocked out power for 10 months, she took charge of recovery efforts at work and in the community. That experience propelled her to begin studying solar energy fundamentals and system design. Driven to do right for her community and support clean energy growth, Karry has taught PV system design to more than 25 families in Puerto Rico. A trained chemical engineer, Karry was the first person in her family to complete a university degree and the first to seek a graduate degree.
Rasheena Dow
Barbados
A course at the University of the West Indies sparked Dow’s interest in renewable energy and led to a career that has enabled her to champion renewable energy for a top energy provider in Barbados. Dow has performed technology research and prepared a project proposal for the Caribbean Development Bank and the government of Barbados. As a renewable energy coordinator, she has also presented solar PV project proposals to clients as Barbados strives toward a goal of 100 percent renewable energy generation and carbon neutrality by 2030.
Elizabeth Freeman
United States
An enrolled member of the Tohono O’odham Nation and Hopi, Acoma, and Navajo, Elizabeth Freeman is motivated to serve Indigenous communities that use solar and live without traditional electricity. While holding down a full-time job, Freeman has attended a community college part time to advance her solar education. At a solar workshop, Freeman found herself drawn to the technical aspect of solar systems. Freeman aspires to become a solar technician, an instructor, and a business owner. She also seeks to empower women in solar and raise awareness of careers in solar.
Ginger Miner
United States
A construction worker since age 14, Ginger Miner channeled her experience with the electrical workers union and love of operating equipment into a career in solar. Miner worked her way up from operator and installer to site supervisor. She brought her son to work as an apprentice, and now he is also working solar. Miner aims to show how women can succeed in management positions as encouragement so other women know they can do it too.
Fateme Karimi
Iran
Solar energy is Fateme Karimi’s favorite subject. She has spent years researching the field, leading to a master’s degree with a thesis on the optimal orientation of PV modules according to economic, environmental, and power market considerations. Karimi has also worked as a solar energy expert at a power engineering consultancy. Her goal is to expand solar energy access, especially in cities where access to land is constrained and in villages where access to electricity is limited.
Sindhu Sivankutty Nair Nair
Oman
As a university lecturer, Sindhu Sivankutty Nair Nair feels a duty to teach students about new technologies and opportunities to accomplish their goals. Nair’s goals include contributing to the development of solar energy systems and showcasing the power of women in almost all areas of technology. Nair is pursuing a Ph.D. in nanotechnology, focusing on the development. of lead-free solar cells using perovskite materials. Through continuing education, she seeks to show that age is not a barrier to growth, and nothing is impossible.
Ritu Vasu Primlani
United States
Ritu Vasu Primlani considers her life to be defined by sustainability. At work, she serves as a decarbonization manager for the Nashville, Tennessee metropolitan area and runs a nonprofit that provides clean energy for disadvantaged communities. At her home, Vasu Primlani plans to install solar energy and a water catchment system. Eventually, she wants to build an off-grid house that is self-sufficient. In her spare time, she works to complete a Ph. D in sustainable mobility, writes books, and performs standup comedy, among other activities.
Aloyma Armenteros
Cuba
Aloyma Armenteros, an industrial engineer with a degree in fish, seafood, and other fishery resources, aspires to make an impact on Cuba’s food industry using clean energy technologies. She seeks to instill a strong environmental awareness for young people and to make the energy transition more inclusive, especially for women.
Paula Gutiérrez
Colombia
Paula Gutiérrez completed a master’s degree in applied economics with a focus on solar energy and then donated her thesis research to Colombia’s national planning department to improve understanding of rural electrification. She has continued giving back as an academic advisor and a mentor for green startups in Colombia. Gutiérrez wants to acquire technical knowledge so she can share more information with students and eventually start installing solar PV systems in remote parts of the country.
Yeloskay Afonso
Spain
After experiencing gender discrimination at work in the Canary Islands, Yeloskay Afonso emigrated to Spain to continue her career as a civil engineer working in renewable energy. She got established as a PV system trainer, and was often the only woman in the room. With plenty of experience, Afonso had planned to launch a solar contracting company, but she found male staff unwilling to work in her business. She continues to provide trainings and offer consulting while providing care for her father.
Daniela Corona Luna
Mexico
Daniela Corona Luna, a recent graduate from the Benemérita Autonomous University of Puebla, is a renewable energy engineer, a researcher studying the efficiency of PV module controls, and a budding entrepreneur. Motivated to combat the climate crisis and increase solar energy use in Mexico and Latin America, Corona Luna has participated in solar energy coursework at top universities in Mexico and Chile. She also attended Solar Energy International’s first Women’s Solar Electric Lab Week. Her goal is to launch a company close to home that develops PV projects and trains and employs women.
Melissa Escobillana
Chile
Working as a civil engineer at the Energy Sustainability Agency, Melissa Escobillana helps implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, mostly solar PV projects, in concert with the Chilean Ministry of Energy. While supporting her son and her mother at home, Escobillana also takes time to promote and encourage the professional development of women through Solar Energy International’s women’s network in Chile.
High-quality training and networking opportunities can offer a pathway for greater skills development in solar to women and non-binary individuals around the world. Training opportunities like those offered by Half the Sun can increase women’s representation in the solar industry up to 50 percent, in line with women’s share of the world’s population.
Learn more about the Half the Sun scholarship, here.
