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Tasha McCarter, RWE's vice president of solar engineering, joined Episode 37 of the Factor This! podcast to talk about her career, Black History Month, and the energy industry's pursuit of a more diverse workforce. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The proverbial light bulb that sparked Tasha McCarter's interest in energy was an actual light bulb.

A third-grade experiment using a hand crank generator to produce electricity led over time to an accomplished career developing power plants for SunPower, Silicon Ranch, and, most recently, RWE as the company's vice president of solar engineering.

"I knew that I was interested in something that dealt with turning lights on," she said.

For McCarter, who is Black, the rise to become one of the energy industry's engineering leaders was anything but easy. While the industry's well-known diversity problem is slowly improving, there's still a long way to go.

McCarter joined Episode 37 of the Factor This! podcast to talk about her career, Black History Month, and the energy industry's pursuit of a more diverse workforce.

Overcoming isolation

McCarter's path was always toward a career in engineering. Confident in her skills and constantly reassessing her goals, she was able to navigate an industry that could, at times, feel isolating.

Today, around 60% of the clean energy workforce is white, according to the most recent analysis from E2. Black people make up just 8% of the clean economy, compared to 13% ec