Process optimization in utility-scale infrastructure

The Waikoloa Solar and Storage facility serves roughly 7% of Hawaii Island's power demand at one of the lowest power purchase agreement rates in the state. As a field technician, I maintained the meteorological station supporting the site's energy forecasting and performance monitoring infrastructure.

The station measured wind speed, rainfall, and solar irradiance through a pyranometer array, powered by an onsite solar panel transmitting data in real time. A soiling monitoring kit was added in the early months to track particulate accumulation and its effect on panel output, which informed how often the array needed cleaning.

Calibration required every instrument to be precisely leveled, and field conditions made that harder than it sounds. With no guidance available from supervisors, I designed my own solution: a tarp system outside the fencing that blocked wind interference well enough to stabilize the equipment for calibration. It cut my on-site calibration time by roughly 25%.

Small fix. But that instinct, spotting the friction and designing around it to move faster, is the one that carries into my product work.