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Did you know solar jobs support 231,000 families? That’s more than oil, gas, and coal combined. Rather than relying on machines, solar relies on people. People just like you.
Solar jobs are growing at over ten times the rate of the overall U.S. economy. These solar jobs include a large range of responsibilities. From installation crews to salespeople to corporate and administration positions, it’s no wonder that it’s created 139,972 jobs since 2010.
Unfortunately, the industry saw a slight decrease in jobs during the pandemic. From 2019 to 2020, we saw a 6.7% drop- mainly due to the restrictions placed by federal and local authorities. The drop also increased labor productivity in all three market segments, up 19% in the residential sector, 2% in the non-residential sector and 32% in the utility-scale sector. Even with the decline in jobs, the less labor-intensive utility-scale installations contributed to a record amount of solar energy production in 2020.
“The solar industry continues to support hundreds of thousands of jobs across all 50 states, and even during a pandemic, our companies largely were able to keep workers on the job,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA. “We now have an opportunity to quadruple our workforce, adding diversity and supporting underserved communities by taking policy steps that incentivize solar and storage deployment and provide long-term certainty for solar businesses.”
The Solar Jobs Census is a report that counts workers who spend a majority of their time on solar-related work. The latest report shows that installation and construction-related jobs continued to be the largest segment in the industry, representing 67% of all jobs. Workers in manufacturing jobs represented 14% of all American industry employment, while sales and distribution and operations and maintenance represented 11%. The remaining 4% is comprised of the “other” category. This includes workers in fields like finance, legal, research, advocacy, and communications.
The latest report also showed an increase in solar workforce diversity. “Across nearly every demographic category [diversity increased], including workers identifying as “female,” which now represent 30% of the solar workforce. Representation among women and minority demographic groups has improved significantly since 2015, including a 39% increase for women, 92% increase for Hispanic or Latino workers, 18% increase for Asian American and Pacific Islander workers, and a 73% increase for Black or African American workers.” - SEIA
Solar occupations also earn wages comparable to or better than those same occupation types in other industries. For example, when comparing pay for positions such as construction managers, electricians, and installers, wages for solar workers continue to beat other industry averages.
The solar industry also continues to outpace the rest of the economy in its employment of veterans. Veterans represent 8.7% of the solar workforce, compared to 5.7% in the overall economy.
When the results from the last census returned, lawmakers were in the midst of debating infrastructure spending that could boost the solar workforce by hundreds of thousands of jobs. “SEIA analysis shows that the solar industry will need to reach more than 900,000 workers to reach President Biden’s 2035 clean energy target. SEIA is advocating for policies that will grow clean energy deployment and lay the groundwork to hire and train those workers.” -SEIA
What does that mean for you? The more resources set aside to grow solar employment, the more incentives created to support those jobs.
When you choose to install solar, you’re not only saving yourself money, you’re also supporting one of the best industries in employment. Interested in learning more? Talk to one of our experts today.
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