Field Service Technician II – Solar

New Energy Equity; Saint Cloud (MN); On-site; USD 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company truck provided

Up to 8% annual bonus

PPE and flame-resistant clothing kit

Job summary

New Energy Equity is seeking a Field Service Technician II – Solar to perform in-person, outdoor inspections and maintenance across St. Cloud, MN-area solar sites. You will travel to sites from your home, reporting to field locations without a centralized office.

Role emphasizes high-voltage safety, independent work, and mentoring junior techs along a defined progression path toward Technician III. Prior solar experience is helpful but not required.

Qualifications

• Two or more years of serious hands-on technical work in any industry.
• Strong electrical and diagnostic skills are required for high-voltage solar systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead safe field inspections and preventative maintenance of solar energy systems.
• Perform advanced troubleshooting and diagnostics in 600VAC/1500VDC environments.
• Educate and guide junior technicians on site along a defined development pathway.
• Maintain compliance with safety procedures and lockout/tagout standards.

Skills

Electrical diagnostics

Field troubleshooting

Tools

I/V curve tracer

Megohmmeter

Infrared thermography

Drone-based aerial inspection

Job description

WORK ARRANGEMENT: ON-SITE, FIELD-BASED. THIS IS NOT A REMOTE OR WORK-FROM-HOME JOB.

This role is performed in person, outdoors, on solar sites in and around St. Cloud, MN. You must already live within commuting distance of St. Cloud, or be prepared to relocate there at your own expense before your start date.

You may see this listed as "field-based." That means you drive from your home to job sites rather than reporting to an office each morning. It does not mean you can work from another city or state. Applications from candidates who are not located in — or actively relocating to — the St. Cloud area cannot be considered for this posting.

Territory: [30–90 minutes typical, rarely over 3 hours]. Overnight travel: [under 10%]. Schedule: [M–F, 7am–3pm or 8am–4pm]. On-call: [rotational Saturday 8am–12pm]. Overtime: [paid biweekly; 40–45 hours typical; 1.5x over 40].

Solar experience helps. It is not required. Strong electrical and diagnostic skills are.

Energy Support Services keeps solar and energy storage systems safe, reliable, and producing clean power. As a Field Service Technician II – Solar, you’ll work independently on advanced inspections, preventative maintenance, and system troubleshooting — operating safely in high-voltage environments without direct supervision, guiding junior technicians on site, and progressing along a defined pathway toward Technician III.

If you have two or more years of serious hands‑on technical work in any industry and you’re the person people bring the problem nobody else could figure out, we want your application.

Coming from another trade? This is the part to read.

We hire experienced technicians out of other industries at this level regularly, and we build the solar knowledge on top. Here’s how your background translates:

• Automotive, diesel, or heavy equipment — Root‑cause diagnosis, circuit tracing, reading schematics, using a scan tool and DMM, working to torque spec, and writing up findings. You’ll trade flat‑rate for a salary, and your tool box for ours.
• HVAC/R, especially commercial or light‑industrial — Control circuits, contactors, VFDs, three‑phase power, service calls run solo, and preventative maintenance on a schedule. Very close cousin to this work.
• Telecommunications, broadband, or utility line work — Working at height, terminations, test equipment, prints, and outdoor work in every kind of weather. Your safety habits are already right.
• Industrial maintenance, wind, or power generation — Lockout/tagout discipline, medium‑voltage awareness, PM programs, and CMMS documentation all carry directly across.
• Military technical specialties — Power generation, electrical systems, avionics, and electronics maintenance transfer cleanly.

The tools you’ll learn (and their equivalents you may already know)

• I/V curve tracer — measures the performance curve of a string of solar modules to find underperformance. Conceptually similar to putting a vehicle or motor on a load test.
• Megohmmeter ("Megger") / insulation resistance tester — finds insulation breakdown and ground faults. If you’ve used one in industrial or motor work, it’s the same instrument.
• Infrared thermography — thermal imaging to find hot spots in connections and modules. If you’ve used a thermal camera on bearings, panels, or refrigerant lines, you’re already there.
• Drone‑based aerial thermal inspection — we pay for your FAA Part 107 and teach you the flight work.

Pay

$75,000 – $95,000 annually, depending on experience and qualifications.

What we offer

• Tools and equipment: provided. Company truck, company fuel/credit card, and vehicle maintenance card. You will never spend your own money on tools here — no tool truck payment, no tool debt.
• Bonus: Up to an 8% performance bonus, paid annually.
• Apparel: Company‑provided PPE and flame‑resistant clothing kit (bibs, jackets, pants, shirts) at no cost to you.
• Health: Medical, dental, and vision. We pay 80% of your health insurance premiums.
• Retirement: 401(k) with up to a 7.5% company match.
• Time off: PTO accrued each pay period — 120 hours/year (years 0–2), 160 hours (years 3–9), 200 hours (10+ years) — plus 11 paid holidays.
• Family: 8 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Insurance: Company‑paid Life and AD&D insurance at 1x your annual salary.
• Certifications — we pay, you keep them: OSHA 10/30, NFPA 70E/70B, FAA Part 107 (drone), and our internal O&M Tech course series. These certifications stay with you for the rest of your career.
• Advancement: A published Field Tech Development Pathway with defined progression to Technician III. You move up on demonstrated capability, not on how long you’ve been here.
• Education: Tuition reimbursement up to $10,000 per year for approved programs.

What you’ll do

Safety

• Lead by example in promoting a safe working culture in the field.
• Perform approved hazardous electrical energy control procedures and select the exact PPE required for each task.
• Participate in and actively critique Pre‑Job Briefs and Job Safety Analysis (JSA). Apply personal lockout/tagout as a worker, or serve as work leader once approved.

Inspections and preventative maintenance

• Perform comprehensive electrical and mechanical inspections of solar energy systems.
• Conduct advanced preventative maintenance including infrared thermography, insulation resistance testing, and I/V curve tracing — all of which we train you on.
• Help build and implement preventative maintenance schedules for your assigned sites.

Troubleshooting

• Independently diagnose and troubleshoot system and operational issues.
• Operate and troubleshoot safely in 600VAC and 1500VDC environments without direct supervision. Note: 1500VDC is a higher DC voltage