First Solar reserves the right to offer you a role most applicable to your experience and skillset.

Basic Job Functions:

The Analytics Engineer III is responsible for the development, validation, and continuous improvement of methodologies that accurately characterize the performance of First Solar photovoltaic products and systems. He/she will achieve results through leadership of cross-functional teams to identify research needs, develop and execute methods and test plans, and ensure quality of data collection, analysis, and reporting.

The successful candidate will be able to adapt quickly to new data and analytical requests from across the First Solar organization. This may include engineering statistical analysis, contract analysis, policy analysis and project management tasks.

The ideal candidate will build relationships with internal and external groups to research state of the art field performance measurements of solar photovoltaic products, meteorological analysis, statistical analysis, and energy prediction methods & tools. He/she will be capable of independently identifying novel solutions to problems presented and communicating results to both a technical and non-technical audience.

Education/Experience:

• At least 3 years in a Photovoltaics, Power Engineering, or other renewable energy field
• At least 3 years in physical/technical data analysis
• Advanced degree in Materials Science, Physics or Electrical Engineering required. PhD preferred.

Required Skills/Competencies:

• In-depth understanding of solar PV device behaviors and field performance of various technologies.
• Familiarity with renewables energy prediction modeling (preferably solar) and processing meteorological data and understanding of power engineering.
• Proficient with solar simulation software (PVSyst, PlantPredict, PV Sol, PV Design Pro or similar).
• Proficient with programming languages (Python, Matlab, R, or similar), relational databases (SQL server), data analysis and visualization software's (preferably jmp, Tableau, SAS).
• Experienced with standard data science and machine learning packages such as Numpy, Pandas, Matplotlib, seaborn, bokeh, plotly.
• Have solid understanding of the machine learning model stack (regression, classification, neural networks, time series) and packages (Scikit learn, Xgboost, Keras, Pytorch, Tensorflow, statsmodels).
• Excellent communication, organization and interpersonal skills, comfortable to interpret data and modeling efforts to a large audience on a regular basis and publish results in reputed PV conference and journals.
• Strong self-direction, initiative, and ability to prioritize multiple tasks from various requestors, demonstrated ability to manage multi-faceted projects.
• Proficient use of all Microsoft Office suite programs.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Develop solar module device characterization methods.
• Design, plan and execute testing to evaluate module performance to obtain competitive knowledge and insights.
• Forecast/Model long-term energy performance of First Solar modules in production/field environments, perform model vs actual analysis on a periodic basis. Identify areas of improvement in the models. Validate model predictions with measured data from plant monitoring systems and field test results.
• Evaluate the feasibility of new products, model energy performance of new module technologies under various meteorological climates, improve model through successive iterations, ensemble results to develop a robust model and validate model prediction with testbed before production deployment.
• Use advanced analytics tools such as Python, R, and Matlab to automate data analysis. Write and document reusable scripts with a mix of API's and packages.
• Develop methods to determine the statistical level of certainty around the quantity and quality of solar insolation at various project sites. This will include familiarity with short term and long term meteorological data sets and understanding industry accepted methods for interpolating data.
• Ability to interface cross functionally with development engineering and manufacturing engineering to be a leader in critical work process improvement initiatives.
• Other duties as assigned.
• Job description subject to change at any time.

Reporting Relationships:

• This position will report to the Manager- Analytics

Travel:

• 0% - 5% (On occasion/as needed for training, etc.)

Estimated Annual Salary Range:

• $74,000 - $100,000 Estimated Annual Salary

US Physical Requirements:

• Will sit, stand or walk short distances for up to the entire duration of a shift.
• Will climb stairs on an occasional basis.
• Will lift, push or pull up to 27 pounds on an occasional basis.
• Required to use hands to grasp, lift, handle, carry or feel objects on a frequent basis.
• 20/40 vision in each eye, with or without correction, is required.
• Must be able to comply with all safety standards and procedures.
• May reach above shoulder heights and below the waist on a frequent basis.
• May stoop, kneel, or bend, on an occasional basis.
• Ability to wear personal protective equipment is required (including but not limited to; steel toed shoes, gloves, safety glasses, hearing protection, protective jacket or apron and arm guards).
• All associates working on the production floor may be required to wear a respirator at any given time and thus, the ability to wear a respirator is a condition of employment and continued employment (requires little or no facial hair).

Potential candidates will meet the education and experience requirements provided on the above job description and excel in completing the listed responsibilities for this role. All candidates receiving an offer of employment must successfully complete a background check and any other tests that may be required.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement: First Solar is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values and respects the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of the company to recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a driving force in the success of our company.