I have future aspiration to start a business that makes solar panels, wind turbines, and using biomass to go away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy. Which undergraduate major would be best prepare me for this kind of work and business model? I was think Civil/Environmental engineering, but I want to get into the business side of renewable energy more than anything.
Probably engineering and perhaps you could also find a school where you could also take business courses. Business schools often have very different rules regarding the ability of non-business majors to take classes. Perhaps you could come up with a list of schools with engineering and then explore the requirements/rules governing what non-business majors can and cannot take. Can students double-major in business? Can students minor in business? Are students allowed to take individual classes in the business school? Does enrolling for a business major or minor require a student go through a separate application process once they are a student at the school? Good luck!
Look at schools that offer management engineering or industrial engineering.
^Industrial engineering or operations research was also going to be my suggestion, as an alternative to civil/environmental engineering.
Civil and environmental will be focused on earth sciences. Soils and dirt. Water. Great if interested in hydro but less so for wind.
Energy Policy programs or environmental studies that offer concentrations in either energy science or sustainability are likely to be a better fit, combined with the business aspect either as a major/minor or as complimentary electives. There are some nice combo programs out there that have some of these options.
If you wanted to design the panels, I’d look at mechanical engineering programs that offer some energy courses but for sell and build as a business you’ll need the basics of the science but will need to understand the market as well which is where the policy, stats and econ classes could come in. A pure engineering curriculum will not have the flexibility for those classes that other majors might.
This is a multidisciplinary field and there are many paths to get to your goal. For wind energy, mechanical engineering may be a good option. For biomass based renewable energy, agricultural engineering/chemical engineering offers relevant background. Chemical engineering is also relevant to solar applications. For example, materials science and engineering (as a standalone discipline or extension of chemical engineering) could be relevant background for some of the newer technologies for high efficiency solar panels as well as battery/energy storage technology. Electrical/computer engineering is relevant to smart grid technologies and automation aspects. IMHO, civil/environmental engineering has less relevance to the actual product development aspects (other than hydropower) and is more pertinent to measure/study/simulate large scale environmental impacts. All these are generalizations. I would recommend starting with mechanical engineering or chemical engineering as good choices if you want to develop new products, but you could get there with other engineering fields. Complementing any of these with business background should give you a good start. Best of luck.