Photo voltaic power jobs had been up in 47 states and elevated 9 % nationwide from 2020 to 2021 to a complete of 255,037 photo voltaic employees. These findings are within the annual Nationwide Photo voltaic Jobs Census launched by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), an unbiased nationwide nonprofit group.
This job development passed off in a 12 months of report photo voltaic installations pushed by elevated demand for renewable power amongst residential clients, municipalities, companies, and electrical utilities. General, the photo voltaic business added 21,563 jobs in 2021, with greater than two-thirds of those new jobs (14,350) at set up and undertaking growth corporations.
“America’s photo voltaic business got here again sturdy from the pandemic to develop the clear power workforce throughout all areas of the nation,” mentioned Larry Sherwood, President and CEO at IREC. “The longer term stays unsure in gentle of the availability chain disruptions, commerce points, and stalled federal coverage within the first a part of 2022. There’s potential for unprecedented job development within the coming years if federal, state, and native leaders take motion to develop clear power use and deal with local weather change.”
The full report and related data can be downloaded at here.
Over the previous decade, U.S. photo voltaic employment has greater than doubled from 105,145 jobs in 2011 to 255,037 jobs in 2021. Essentially the most important development has taken place within the set up and undertaking growth sector, the place employment greater than tripled since 2011 to achieve 168,960 jobs in 2021.
On the state stage …
- California (75,712 jobs)
- Florida (11,761 jobs),
- Massachusetts (10,548 jobs),
- New York (10,524 jobs), and
- Texas (10,346 jobs).
These are adopted by Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Ohio, every with 7,000 to 9,000 jobs.
California additionally led for the variety of jobs added in 2021 (7,035 new jobs), adopted by Massachusetts (+1,053 jobs), Nevada (+1,019 jobs), and Arizona (+932 jobs). Different sturdy development states had been Ohio, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Georgia, every with 800–900 new jobs. See a complete table of solar jobs by state and job growth from 2020 here.
“Photo voltaic power is an financial development engine, creating new jobs whereas it helps us confront the local weather disaster,” mentioned Dan Reicher, Senior Scholar, Stanford Woods Institute and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Vitality. “There’s huge and untapped potential to develop photo voltaic installations and associated jobs throughout america, in an environmentally sustainable method, as we assist companies and households entry this renewable power supply.”
The photo voltaic business nonetheless has extra work to do to satisfy its objectives for range, fairness, and inclusion and prolong the advantages of the clear power economic system to underrepresented teams.
The report discovered that ladies made up slightly below 30 % of the photo voltaic workforce in 2021, whereas Black workers made up 8 % of the workforce, Latino or Hispanic employees made up 20 %, and Asian employees made up 9 %. Fewer than one-third of photo voltaic corporations reported methods to extend feminine, ethnic or racial minority, or LGBTQ+ hires.
The photo voltaic business does supply a path to a profession for these with no two- or four-year school diploma. Lower than one-third of entry-level photo voltaic jobs (31 %) require a bachelor’s diploma, whereas 65 % of corporations present on-the-job coaching. In a 12 months with a decent labor market, 89 % of corporations reported issue discovering certified candidates, together with 35 % that mentioned it was “very troublesome.”
This report analyzes knowledge from the U.S. Division of Vitality’s U.S. Vitality and Employment Report 2022 and a supplemental followup survey of photo voltaic institutions. Each surveys had been administered by BW Analysis Partnership. The Nationwide Photo voltaic Jobs Census defines a photo voltaic worker as somebody who spends 50 % or extra of their time on solar-related work. The Nationwide Photo voltaic Jobs Census was first printed in 2010 by The Photo voltaic Basis, which merged with IREC in 2021.
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