Job growth in the solar industry’s past, present and future.
The solar electric industry has been around since the mid-1950s but didn’t really start to grow until the early 1970s with off-grid systems in remote locations throughout the U.S.A. and a few other nations. Solar thermal systems were the better energy value at that time because solar electric systems were very expensive and not very efficient, but solar thermal could only provide hot water and some space heating. There were few jobs to support this early business model since most of the systems were built by their owners. These were independent minded people who did almost everything on their own; they were the pioneers of the solar energy industry we have today.
It wasn’t until the late 1990s that solar started to make headway into the mainstream energy sector of the American and World economies. Since that time, we have seen many ups and downs with its growth but we have always had growth – even in the down years. This growth didn’t happen without the help from some well-organized pioneers and enthusiasts. In 1982 the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) was formed and in 2002 the North American Borad of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) was formed.
IREC has been the leader in developing policy and workforce solutions in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industry as well as setting standards in the industry for educating and training the workforce. NABCEP writes standards for the design and installation workforce as well as facilitating the pathway for credentialled certification of individuals in the solar industry.
The following charts were created by IREC as a part of their annual National Solar Jobs Census. The 2024 report is the most recently published report by IREC.
[See charts at bottom of post]
The future of solar energy growth and jobs along with it will not only continue to grow but accelerate. Solar energy is now the most economical electrical energy source we have; It accounts for an average of 53% of all new electrical energy production in the past five years. The industry is the most innovative and competitive of any energy industry in existence today. Data centers are the fastest growing electrical energy consuming industry in the world and they are turning to solar with storage rather than wait years for conventional infrastructure to catchup with their needs today.
The question is not whether there will be jobs in this industry going forward but which job you want. Most solar jobs are in project development and installation of the solar energy and storage systems but almost every other job sector grows along with it.
We train designers and installers to work in the solar industry.
Kelly Provence
Solairgen School of Solar Technology
IREC Certified Master PV Trainer
(800) 262-7560
http://solairgen.com
