Kelly Linville - Your Solar Wonder Woman

Kelly is a passionate advocate for the environment and clean technology. In her own words, “I grew up in a time when the Environmental Protection Agency was newly formed, President Carter installed solar on the White House, Americans were protesting nuclear energy, and our Country experienced an oil/energy crisis that exemplified a national security concern with our reliance on foreign crude. To say the least, it made a lasting effect on me and how I see the World.” 

Kelly’s journey to learn more about energy efficiency and solar energy started in 2002 when she attended the first Women in Solar class at the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, Ca. Kelly explains how she had her ‘Aha moment’ during the mentioned class, “Our hands-on portion of the class was to wire up a Solar panel to a water pump and then to a battery bank. Within a minute we were pumping water out of a small lake. At that moment, I knew that solar energy was the key to my future. I was interested then to enter this field of work but education, training as well as solar demand was in its infancy then.”

Ten years later the opportunity to change careers from Photofinishing to Photovoltaics came in 2013 when the Community Colleges in Sacramento, Ca offered Solar Training. Kelly took her Solar classes at American River College (ARC) and first met her Energy Instructors, Steve Geiger and Michael Dela Pena. Her goals were to complete the Solar/ Design Technology courses at ARC, pass the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certification, and learn more about energy conservation and green building.

Her thoughts on going back to school:

“The purpose of those goals was to become a well-rounded Solar integrator and be an asset to any Solar business or even open my own solar business. Steve and Michael, my teachers and mentors are a fountainhead of knowledge and support. I’m sincerely grateful that fate brought them into my life.”

In the Summer of 2014, she volunteered with Grid Alternatives and installed many Solar PV Systems. She participated in their Women's Solar Initiative and had the pleasure of being a Team Lead on their Executive Women's Build. Later that year, she was invited to be a board member on Grid Alternative's North Valley Board of Directors and served the Non-Profit Organization for three years.

Kelly passed her NABCEP exam in 2015 and started working for Michael and Steve’s solar residential installation company, Four Phase Energy as a Project Manager. During that time, she worked closely with their partner SunPower and became well-versed in SunPower products as well as SMA inverters, Enphase microinverters, and SolarEdge systems.

In 2017, she started her own solar consultation and business management company, Kelly Green Solar. The past few years, Kelly has consulted for homeowners with existing solar systems and those just interested in going solar, contractors, and even a tiger sanctuary! She has also consulted for SunPower Master Dealers and developed and implemented an onboarding solar training center, safety program, and quality assurance procedures.

Currently, Kelly is involved in Green Workforce Training with Energy Career Path and has taught an introduction to solar class for GreenTech EDU. She is also actively involved in her community’s Green Initiatives and has been chosen to participate in her City’s Climate Action Plan Board of Directors.

What’s ahead for Kelly? She says,

“Keep growing, keep innovating, and don’t be afraid of change. It’s important to enjoy the journey and follow your passions. Solar can take you down so many roads of opportunity. Kelly Green Solar will be changing its business model to be more entrepreneurial in off-grid solar applications as well as, direct sales and continuing to consult and teach with Energy Career Path. I am excited to be teaming up with Michael and Steve again and I know Energy Career Path is a dynamo of talent leading the pact in energy consultation and green workforce development”

Kelly Linville can be reached by phone at 916-380-9656 or by email at kelly@energycareerpath.com 

For more of Kelly, check out what she's been up to outside of ECP: