Onyx Renewables Intern Program Spotlight
Entering its third year, Onyx Renewables’ summer internship program is a hands-on program spanning multiple departments in the company. The program aims to introduce students to careers in clean energy development, providing them with real-world experience working in the renewables sector. By identifying and training the next generation of clean energy professionals, the program brings awareness of the Onyx brand and the importance of distributed energy solutions to an entirely new audience.
During their time at Onyx, interns have the opportunity to expand their knowledge of whichever department they work in, while also attending company culture events to network with teams outside of their own to make connections and build their professional networks. With guidance from mentors, the interns become involved in current projects and initiatives, and even conduct their own mock project proposal at the end of the program.
Learning through doing
Onyx’s internship program throws students into the real world of renewable energy, with each intern being assigned to a department to work with and “shadow” their assigned supervisor. Interns attend a variety of weekly meetings and are given insight on the daily work done within their departments. From gathering and updating data on solar financing incentives, to conducting market research and learning essential design software like Helioscope, each intern is given responsibilities that will expand their knowledge and fuel their confidence in their chosen field.
This summer, interns even got to visit a completed solar project with the Onyx engineering and project development teams, where they learned about the technical aspects of a solar system. Only a few weeks into the program, the site visit was a great opportunity to see the systems they had been learning about in person and deepen their understanding of renewable energy project development.
Q&A with Onyx Renewables’ Summer 2024 Intern Cohort
Read on to hear from the interns themselves about Onyx’s Internship Program. This year’s cohort includes:
Maya Yu – Engineering and Asset Management
Maya is interning for a second year at Onyx Renewables. With a background in environmental engineering, her innovative ideas around project design are paving the way for exciting new developments at Onyx.
Aava Farhadi – Origination
Aava is completing her bachelor's degree in economics and master's in management science and engineering. Her enthusiasm for renewable energy is inspiring, and we are excited to see her contributions unfold.
Patrick Kim – Finance
Patrick has a strong background in Mathematics and is passionate about implementing climate action. He is most interested in working on project finance and cost modeling, and brings fresh insights and a collaborative spirit to the team.
Mariam Ghattas – Marketing and Legal
With a deep commitment to sustainability, Mariam is focusing on engagement and policy research. Her knowledge in political science and innovative approach are already driving positive change within our organization.
What drew you to intern at Onyx Renewables?
Mariam Ghattas: My interest in sustainability motivated me to apply to the internship program at Onyx. I was excited by the fact that Onyx had an in-house legal team, whereas other companies typically outsource their legal staff. Being involved with legal and marketing allowed me to see how a project moves through each stage of its lifecycle, and cooperate with every part of the team. What I found especially interesting was how the marketing department catered to B2B, because I had always thought of marketing as, “How do we market to the consumer?” Also, company culture was huge for me. The entire team at Onyx makes me feel comfortable asking anyone a question about virtually anything, from specific questions about work to general career advice.
How has working at Onyx shaped your perspective on the importance of renewable energy?
Maya Yu: I think throughout my academic career, renewable energy systems were always seen as simple, easily-implementable solutions toward mitigating the effects of climate change. I think working at Onyx made me realize the various intricacies and nuances that surround and dictate the clean energy space. I appreciate Onyx's commitment to accelerating the clean energy transition -- actively participating in the market transformation framework that highlights the paradigm shift toward redefining sustainable businesses and corporations.
What challenges have you faced during your internship, and how have you overcome them?
Aava Farhadi: One of the biggest challenges I have faced during my internship is absorbing all of the necessary information. Since the renewable energy industry is so vast, with so many interconnected aspects, I have had to learn a lot over the past few weeks, which is really rewarding but a challenge, nonetheless. With that being said, everyone at Onyx has made the process so enjoyable, giving me the tools to navigate all of the new terminology and frameworks, making the learning experience more manageable and fun.
How do you think the skills you’re gaining here will help you in your future career?
Patrick Kim: The most interesting problems I've worked on at Onyx involve generating insights from data and translating them to strategy recommendations. Developing both the technical skills to analyze data and the communication skills to effectively translate these insights has been quite a rewarding experience. I've also learned a lot about the solar project development pipeline and tools we can use to help finance and manage these projects. I hope to use this industry and project finance background in my future experiences within solar, renewable energy, and clean tech deployment!