Getting wet in PV - part 1

Now let say you are an interpreter considering getting wet into some technical domain you are not familiar with but you want to bet there will be a growing demand for your competences - consecutive - once you get some, how do you prepare? The domain is photovoltaic but it could be anything else. I have been starting working in parallel to PV with fuel cells and neutraceutical. I may add mechatronics to that list but it may be too heavy for a single lunch, so let's focus on PV as an example.
The standard suggestion you can read about on the net comes down to : "read a lot on the subject". In the less appealing cases, suggestions come down to the art of making queries using search engines. I have been looking for something different that tells a story about getting the big picture on any subject - not simply get the URL to Wikipedia - and how to strategically gets deeper once wet, in the perspective of delivering interpretation services. My assumption is that the path must be different if you are a journalist getting wet to start covering a subject you are not familiar with, and an interpreter looking to invest into new markets.

So it started with some money shelled over Amazon. I bought my books on PV in three languages and have started reading some. But with time on my hands, a luxury, I wanted to experiment an alternative approach to getting used with a new domain from the interpreter perspective and try and draw some lessons for preparation strategies. Reading has been rather dull and unsatisfactory. I pondered the reasons why and finally found some. Preparation should be more systemic, more consciously thought than a routine, what with the wealth, nay, the maelstrom of resources online where you risk drowning under at anytime. Interpreters in 10 years time, those raised on Japanese manga, won't prepare the old fashion way, and are already laughing at such tips found here or there.

In the following untidy articles, I will try and formulate what I am finding as to what should be a systemic approach to preparation, and what to tell your students beyond the mundane and unsatisfactory : "Read a lot and build your own glossary."

... to be continued ...