PV Solar Engineer

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PV Solar Engineer

Are you enthusiastic about working on the next (re)evolution occurring in vehicle-integrated photovoltaics? And are you passionate about solar hardware, creative problem solving, programming or modelling, learning, collaborating and have a maker attitude?

Join us on our mission!

Where:  De Amfoor 2 in Venray

Domain: Solar

Experience: open to all candidates with desire to get hands on attitude and demonstrated experience

Degree: at least a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field 

Working at Lightyear is a unique experience. You get the opportunity to work for a company with a pure and meaningful mission. A mission that will make a positive and lasting impact on future generations.

What will you do as a Solar PV Engineer?

As a Solar PV Engineer, you will become part of the engineering team at Lightyear. In this role you work closely with solar researchers and engineers, advancing our integrated PV technologies. You will develop advanced integrated PV systems for application in vehicles (ViPV). You will contribute to the continuous improvement of our double curved automotive panels by upgrading its technology and implementing novel architectures towards higher performances (efficiency, durability, weight). You will work with our automotive customers and as an automotive supplier

As a PV Engineer you will have the following tasks and responsibilities:

  • Be responsible for the design of advanced integrated PV systems for application in vehicles (ViPV).

  • Deliver significant innovation to improve the performance of our ViPV systems by implementing advanced technological building blocks and novel design concepts.

  • Propose innovative solutions that can deliver a competitive advantage and be able to benchmark them. 

  • Planning, coordinating, and executing of relevant work.

  • Actively hands on in building, testing, and developing solar components.

A day as a Solar PV Engineer

Let's start by saying Lightyear is very flexible in terms of your working hours. In this role, it is expected you will be in our offices in Venray 3-4 days a week.

So, let's assume this day you chose to come to our office and the first thing you do is grab your favorite wake-up drink before rolling into the first stand-up of the week to align with your project manager. At the end of the stand-up, you have a laugh with a few colleagues about what happened over the weekend at your joined plans. Afterwards, you decide to have a quick one-on-one with your project manager to align on the specific requirements of the project(s) you are working on. Then you decide to go to the lab and/or the manufacturing line to characterize some samples with the aim of understanding whether the new technology you are working on is actually improving the efficiency of our modules.

It's lunch time! For lunch, you join your colleagues in the canteen. During these lunches, it’s not all about work. You talk about when you will go mountain biking together, or what your plans are for the coming weekend.

After lunch, it's time to design a new DoE to test the module reliability and coordinate its execution, (alone or) together with your colleagues. Later in the day, you present the outcomes of the work you did in the last few weeks to your circle lead and some other colleagues.

As a flat organization you will have many opportunities to influence the design and direction of our products. Following some update meetings with colleagues, you check out some datasheets and documentation to learn more about some possible new materials we will be testing.

Then, before finishing for the day, you grab another caffeinated beverage with your colleagues and have a chat about how the day went, not because you have to, but because it’s a nice way to end the day!

What do we expect from a Solar PV Engineer?

In order to succeed in the dynamic world of Lightyear; pro-activity, professionalism, communication and adaptability are crucial. We are looking for someone with an ambitious attitude who learns from the past but who is especially open to transforming new developments or ideas into the ‘tried and tested’ of the future! You thrive on working team based, but working independently should come naturally to you. You are flexible and can work under pressure and you are not afraid of failing along the way. 

Furthermore, we are looking for someone with:

  • A Master’s Degree (Materials Science, Photovoltaic Engineering, Physics, or similar);

  • 2-5 years of relevant experience in a similar or at least (closely) related role;

  • Experience with data acquisition and processing using such as Matlab/Python and/or LabVIEW is a tremendous plus; 

  • Good overview of the whole PV technology value chain;

  • Familiarity with PV module manufacturing processes (direct experience in a PV module manufacturing environment is a big plus);

  • Good knowledge of PV system design and components;

  • Good knowledge of glass, polymers and composite materials is appreciated;

  • The ability to work and learn independently;

  • Familiarity with automotive and/or PV standards is a plus;

  • Creative, problem solving mindset;

  • The ability to think in different levels of abstraction and communicate throughout the whole organization;

  • Mission driven and eager to deliver the change;

  • A strong match between our core values and your values as a person;

  • Proficient in English;

  • Availability for 32-40 hours per week (with flexible working hours).

What can you expect from Lightyear?

In addition to a challenging role we also offer:

  • A high degree of freedom and independence in your role

  • A role within a multidisciplinary team consisting of highly motivated, inquisitive and talented people with a broad diversity of experience

  • Participation in a good pension scheme 

  • 40 vacation days per year (based on a 40 hour contract)

Apply for the job

Do you want to join our team as our new PV Solar Engineer? Then we'd love to hear about you!

Apply now