The Inflation Reduction Act is opening doors for students

The Inflation Reduction Act is opening doors for students like me.

When I emigrated from Colombia to pursue an advanced degree in solar engineering in America, I believed there would be endless opportunities. But when I began my post-graduation career search, I realized America lacked the solar research and engineering opportunities that other countries excel in. My options were limited, and I sometimes consider taking my expertise to opportunities outside the U.S.

This all started to change after the Biden administration’s recent investments to expand clean energy production. Now, clean energy companies are announcing dozens of new solar manufacturing projects all over the country. Once completed, the factories will create hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs for new graduates like me.

Clean energy is personal to me. Growing up in Colombia, I have first-hand experience with the drastic inequalities of living conditions based on one’s socio-economic status. While I grew up in Bogota and enjoyed access to the internet and educational opportunities, not even two hours outside the city, some people lacked electricity and paved roads. I started asking myself: Why would a country with so much potential for solar energy, have thousands of people living without electricity?

From a young age, I always knew I wanted to help people by addressing global challenges. My experiences traveling throughout Colombia inspired me to use my skills in math and science to research solar engineering and find cheap and accessible methods to bring electricity to these communities.

After moving to America and starting my Ph.D. degree at Georgia Tech in 2019, I get to do just that. Each day I come into the lab with a curiosity about science coupled with an objective purpose that our work benefits society.

My research focuses on understanding and creating new technology to reduce the cost of solar manufacturing. By making this technology cheaper to produce, we can bring prices down and make solar energy more accessible. It’s my hope that one day my research will be used in tangible solar energy technology that brings electricity to those same communities back home in Colombia.

That’s why I’m so excited about the Biden administration’’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The law provides tax incentives for developing solar manufacturing here in America and creates thousands of good-paying jobs. In Georgia, Qcells announced the largest investment in solar manufacturing in our nation’s history bringing 2,500 jobs to Cartersville, Georgia. This is just one of fifteen solar and wind projects announced since the Act’s passage.

With the IRA opening the door for the solar industry to expand in America, it’s also opening doors for me. The more industry we have based in America, the more opportunities and career paths I will have access to.

Often I have collaborated with researchers in Germany who now work in solar research in private industry, meaning their work sees real-world application. In America, that’s never been much of an option. I sometimes consider moving to another country yet again if it means I can pursue advantageous opportunities where I can use the knowledge I gained in America. It shouldn’t be like this.

But with the Inflation Reduction Act, all of that is about to change. With the hundreds of thousands of jobs created, my future career may be among one of them. To me, it's more than just a career, it's the potential to bring reliable, clean energy to communities like those in my homeland. As I near my graduation, I’m more hopeful than ever I will fulfill the calling I heard as a little girl in Colombia.

Juanita Hidalgo is a fifth-year Ph.D. student studying solar engineering at Georgia Tech. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is originally from Bogota, Colombia.