Similar to any other industry, there are many different occupations necessary to keep the industry thriving. The major sectors include:

While many of the jobs listed above do not require specific “wind energy” degrees,” there are some that call for special training. Some people go to college for traditional degrees in the following, and then specialize in wind on their own accord:

There are a number of degree and certificate programs currently available or being developed. If you are serious about joining the wind energy community, attending specialized schooling will help you fine tune your skills and hopefully lead you to a job.

Programs include:

Yes. Although a significant amount of jobs in wind require specialization, there are some options if you are not interested in going back to school.

A common question is how to find a job in the wind energy industry through networking. Networking is probably one of the best ways to learn more about the industry and its players and a great way to get involved in the wind energy sector. 

To help you start your search, we have listed various outlets and specific places that post job listings within the wind energy sector.

Company Employment Pages

Windustry's database provides listings of companies that are searchable by area of specialization. 

1. Know What's Up. Learn about what is happening in the wind energy sector today. Important areas to cover include the basics of wind energy, politics, and current issues and trends. Windustry provides overview pages of these areas as well as a News and Events section. So click around and see what you can learn.

Here are a few articles that can provide an idea of the jobs in the wind energy sector:

Commercial scale wind refers to wind energy projects greater than 100 kW. Typically, the electricity is sold rather than used on-site. This category can include large arrays of 100 or more turbines owned by large corporations or a single locally-owned wind turbine greater than 100 kW in size.

All poster designs are 24" long by 7.2" wide.

Use the form located at the bottom of the Merchandise page and send it to us by mail or fax. Please give us a call if you have questions. We are unable to accept online orders at this time.

Hmmm...that depends on the exact situation. Please give us a call for more information.

Maybe. If you're at another event where we are distributing them free, you may certainly have another. Unfortunately, we can't mail you another one for free. It costs us quite a bit to mail the posters due to their unusual size. We request payment for any posters we send in the mail to help us cover the costs of mailing.

Home and farm scale wind refers to wind energy systems that are generally under 100kW and produce power for on-site use. These turbines are suitable for use at a single home, small business or farm.

On a windy day, the sound of the turbine is drowned out by the wind even just a short distance from the turbine. Current technology makes noise almost a non-issue at most wind farms. However, wind turbines do produce some sound, which means wind farms should be sited with this in mind.

Birds and bats occasionally collide with turbines, as they do with any tall structure. A few older wind projects have raised concerns about bird impacts because they were built in areas with sensitive raptor populations. Careful siting and wildlife studies make it possible to avoid most wildlife problems.

Wind assessment takes place at a number of different levels: consulting a wind map, obtaining previously measured data, and taking your own measurements. The cheapest and easiest way to assess your resource is to consult a wind map. Wind resource maps of your state are available at Wind Powering America

Wind developers buy the turbines from the manufacturers, lease the land to place the turbines, construct and operate the development, and sell the electricity to a utility or distribution company. As a landowner, your business role will be to negotiate a contract for the lease of your land to a wind developer.

Wind turbines come in many shapes and sizes, but here is a rule of thumb on how much they cost:

Wind turbines range in size from tiny micro turbines to enormous utility scale power production facilities. Large turbines may have blades that are over 40 meters long - meaning the rotor diameter would be 80 meters long - the length of a football field! The commercial-scale turbines are often placed on 80 meter towers, so the tip of the blades might reach as high as 160 meters (525 feet) in the air.

Smaller home- or farm-sized turbines usually have a rotor diameter of up to 15 meters (50 feet) and can be placed on 30 to 40 meter towers.

Our Scale of Wind diagram, depicts the different sizes of wind turbines and the generation capabilities.

The concept of net metering programs is to allow utility customers to generate their own electricity from renewable resources, such as small wind turbines and rooftop solar systems. The customers send excess electricity back to the utility when their wind system, for example, produces more power than needed. Customers can also get power from the utility when their wind system doesn’t produce enough power. In effect, net metering allows the interconnected customer to use the electrical grid as a storage battery. This helps customers get higher (retail) value for more of their self-generated electricity.

The advantages of utility interconnection include having standard utility AC power when you need it, not just when the wind blows; eliminating the need for storing excess electricity in batteries, which can be expensive; and you only pay for the net electricity used.

Wind energy is the cheapest form of new electricity generation available today. Wind power is more expensive than power from old, established power plants, but is cost competitive with any new power plant.

Wind is the fastest growing energy source in the world, expanding at a rate of 25-30% per year. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) estimates that, after installing over 2,400 megawatts (MW), the wind industry will install over 3,000 MW in 2007. Wind power will generate about 31 billion kilowatt-hours in 2007, enough to power 3 million homes.