Peter Gruenbaum, Solar and Batteries, Texas

Peter Gruenbaum lives in Seattle, Washington, and he’s a senior software developer with Enel Green Power, working on solar and battery projects in Texas. He’s been in the industry for 3 years.

Why is clean energy important to you? I have young adult children, and I want them to have a world where they can be safe and have families of their own.

What’s your proudest accomplishment in clean energy? I played a critical role in getting the Enel Lily solar farm up and running. This is Enel's first solar farm with batteries, and they are planning several more in the near future.

What did you do before entering clean energy? I was a mobile app developer and technical writer.

How did you first get introduced to clean energy? I studied the material science of solar cells in graduate school, but I got frustrated with how slow things improved, and switched to software.

What is something you wish more people knew about your job? Renewable energy can have a big impact. Solar and wind are the cheapest forms of energy, and adding batteries makes solar even more capable than fossil fuel sources. It means the world to me that I feel like I am doing something that makes a difference.

Why should Congress invest in clean energy jobs, not fossil fuel jobs? The cost of solar came down in part because governments, including those beyond the U.S., chose to subsidize and invest in the technology. Now people are using solar because it's cheap. But we can push its cost down even faster if the U.S. gets involved and invests. And we need to. We must push down the costs as fast as we can.