Description
Job Description:
This position is a hybrid role (3x/week onsite) that will be based at our headquarters in Fremont, California.
The San Francisco Chronicle has recognized Nextracker (Nasdaq: NXT) as one of the Top Workplaces for 2023.
About Nextracker
We are a cutting-edge technology company that is looking for passionate individuals to join our innovative team. Nextracker is not just creating solar tracking solutions, but also shaping the future of sustainable energy. Take your career to the next level with us.
At Nextracker, we are leading in the energy transition, providing the most comprehensive portfolio of intelligent solar tracker and software solutions for solar power plants and strategic services to capture the full value of solar power plants for our customers. Our talented worldwide teams are transforming PV plant performance every day with smart technology, data monitoring, and analysis services.
For us at Nextracker, sustainability is not just a word. It's a core part of our business, values, and our operations. Our sustainability efforts are based on five cornerstones: People, Community, Environment, Innovation, and Integrity. We are creative, collaborative and passionate problem-solvers from diverse backgrounds, driven by our shared mission to provide smart solar and software solutions for our customers and to mitigate climate change for future generations.
About the Role
The power electronics systems engineering (a.k.a., NX Power Plant or NXPP) team's goal is to develop an all-in-one utility PV+Storage power block offering to our customers. This team is R&D in nature and focuses on four distinct product developments and their integration to Nextracker's existing offerings. The four products are (i) hybrid central inverter and skid, (ii) battery DCDC converters, (iii) tracker-level PV optimizers or MPPT, and (iv) power plant controls. As a Product Electrical Engineer, you will be the team's technical lead for items (i), (ii), and (iii). The role will be based in Fremont, CA. You will report to the Sr. Power Plant Systems Engineering Manager.
Here is a glimpse of what you'll do
- Be the product lead of Nextracker's first utility hybrid inverter.
- Lead the definition and oversee the development of features, hardware, and firmware updates for Nextracker's first utility hybrid inverter, battery DCDC converters, and PV optimizers. Work with internal firmware, software, hardware engineering internal teams and 3rd party partners and manufacturers.
- Lead overall Nextracker's power block system integration requirements and manage inverter, DCDC, and PV optimizers technical roadmaps and development.
- Co-Develop, alongside the team's controls systems engineers, representative power plant block simulation models.
- Support testing engineers in the drafting and execution of performance, functionality, and grid code compliance test plans of inverters, battery DCDC converters, and PV optimizers both in Fremont Nextracker test yard, Brazil Nextracker test yard, and at NREL.
- Support in analyzing testing results, M&V validation data provided by the performance engineering team, and equipment designs and recommend design improvements.
- Drive Nextracker's utility hybrid inverter certification roadmap and witness IEC, UL, and grid code certification testing. Manage the work carried out by 3rd party certification labs in China, US, and Europe. Review certification test reports and suggest and lead additional testing.
- Collaborate with Balance of System engineering team to define and comply with interface requirements such as protection coordination, wiring and communications.
- Collaborate with quality/SQE team to audit processes and provide control plans and lead long term resolutions of defects and deviations identified.
- Main point of contact and technical support lead for Nextracker's Quality Engineering team in charge of evaluating inverter's quality & reliability, using processes such as DFMEA, PFMEA, PPAP, etc.
- Co-develop with FAE a plan to expand Fremont HQ and Brazil test capabilities.
- Develop maintenance procedures and other documentation for field technicians.
- Support FAE team in field commissioning & troubleshooting
- Support Electrical Engineering team in defining specifications for, and interfaces between, connected components: PV panels, optimizers, combiner boxes, DC and AC cabling, disconnects, surge protection, circuit breakers and transformers.
Here is some of what you'll need (required)
- Degree in Electrical Engineering with focus in Power Electronics or Power Systems (adv. degree preferred)
- 5+ years of experience with developing power electronics systems.
- Hands on experience developing and testing high power converters (100kW+). 1500V, 3 level full bridge, grid-tied inverter design experience preferred (battery inverter experience highly valued)
- Extensive experience evaluating, validating, and testing such designs.
- Good understanding of physics, component selection of semiconductor devices, magnetics, cable/bus bar and protection devices.
- Experience with various communication protocols (Modbus TCP/IP, DNP3, CAN, etc.)
- Deep knowledge of compliance requirements such as UL1741, grid codes such as IEEE 1547 and installation codes such as the NEC.
- Familiarity with control concepts such as space vector PWM, PLL design, sequence components, frequency response analysis.
- Familiarity with design tools such as MATLAB/Simulink, SPICE, PSCAD, PSSE
- Willingness to travel (<10% of time) to China, Europe, and India.
Here are a few of our preferred experiences
- Experience with PV+Storage applications
- Experience as technical lead in power electronics products development
- Familiarity with control system hardware and embedded system programming in C
- Experience resolving issues from the field, performing root cause analysis, and designing mitigations
- Experience with PV system design and applications.
- Experience in multiple aspects of inverter design, such as firmware and hardware.
- Experience performing common electrical studies (load flow, arc flash, co-ordination etc.) using system simulation software.
- Ability to speak Mandarin Chinese
Why Join Nextracker:
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