Joe O'Connor

Product Development Engineer at Zep Solar

Location
Oakland, California
Industry
Renewables & Environment
Current
  1. Zep Solar
Education
  1. Polytechnic Institute of New York University
Recommendations3 people have recommended Joe
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Summary

Joe O’Connor has over 10 years of product design and engineering experience and has worked in the renewable energy industry in San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Joe's consulting background includes solar system design, energy efficiency, and product development.

Joe has a masters in Manufacturing Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of NYU, and was selected as a recipient of the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship.

In 2013, Joe consulted with Community Enterprise Solutions (CES) in Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Haiti. CES distributes solar products for local business in Central America. At the Institution Univers in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, Joe instructed a 3­-day workshop on Solar Energy for a class of 80 electricians. In Nebaj, Guatemala, Joe trained local employees to repair and rebuild solar equipment.

In 2010, Joe helped launch a new solar racking company, Sollega, which lowered the cost of solar installations across the country. Joe's experience and involvement is broad in sustainable consulting, from the development of solar energy systems for SAP Labs, performing energy audits for Westfield Shopping Centers, to managing the LEED certification process for The Fillmore Center.

As founder of OCON Energy Consulting Joe has collaborated with engineers and designers on the west and east coast.

Experience

  • Product Development Engineer

    Zep Solar
    – Present (2 years 5 months)San Francisco Bay Area

    Designed and developed ZS Peak, commercial flat roof mounting system.
    Worked with China team to get multiple megawatts of product manufactured, packaged, and delivered to US.

Education

  • Polytechnic Institute of New York University

    Master's, Manufacturing Engineering
    –

    Activities and Societies: NYU Reynolds Graduate Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship

  • California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

    B.S., Industrial Technology
    –

    Activities and Societies: Minor: Graphic Design

Publications

  • Choosing a Lead Acid Battery for Solar Charging

    Voltaic Systems

    Lead acid batteries have large capacities and are often available in many places around the world. But which lead acid battery should you use with solar panels? I recommend using sealed AGM lead acid batteries wherever possible and will describe in this post the trade-offs of using different battery types with solar panels.

    Authors:

Honors & Awards

  • Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship

    NYU Catherine B. Reynolds

    Each year, the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship awards up to 10 Graduate Fellowships in Social Entrepreneurship to students from across 11 NYU schools.

Courses

  • Polytechnic Institute of New York University

    • Design for Manufacturability
    • Lean Manufacturing
    • Factory Science
    • Supply Chain Engineering

Projects

  • Modular Power

    Starting

    We design and manufacture modular energy equipment, so you can incrementally purchase a larger energy system over time.

    The main difficultly with getting a solar energized home is that it is expensive to purchase all the equipment all at once. Financial models such as equipment leases and micro-financing divide up the full equipment cost into smaller chunks, so small payments can be made over time or by many people. These models have increased the adoption of solar tremendously. But we still have a long way to go, because there are many people who can’t use these financial models.

    I am proposing a new model that will complement these financial models. Instead of incrementalizing the payments in the small chunks, I want to incrementalize the equipment. With modular design techniques one can purchase the equipment and scale up to a larger system whenever they happen to have the funds.

    Team members:

  • Community Enterprise Solutions

    Starting

    Community Enterprise Solutions hired Joe to investigate the solar market in Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Haiti. CES distributes solar products for local business in seven countries in Central America.

    In Haiti, Joe taught a three day solar workshop for 80 Haitian electricians. The course covered basics of power, energy, and circuitry.

    In Guatemala and Dominican Republic, Joe trained local employees to repair solar equipment and developing a new line of solar products to meet the needs of the people in these regions.

    Team members:

  • Solar Dodecahedron

    –

    Kevin Kelly and Joe O'Connor collaborated on a dodecahedron sculpture serving as a solar cell phone charger at the Dumbo Art's Festival. Kevin is a sculpture artist based in Dumbo and Joe is a solar engineer, and together they created a beautiful place for attendees to recharge their phones.

    For more information:
    www.KevinKelly.com
    www.OConEnergy.com

    Team members:

  • Design Collaboration with Mast Brothers Chocolate

    –

    Team members:

Skills

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