Solar
Solar jobs in the U.S.: 370,556 employed (2024)
Every state ranked by solar employment
Solar occupations — national median wages
| Role | SOC | National median | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | 47-2111.00 | $61,590 | 3 |
| Solar Photovoltaic Installer | 47-2231.00 | $51,860 | 2 |
Skill profile for solar roles
Top skills
Troubleshooting3.50
Critical Thinking3.32
Installation3.32
Active Listening3.25
Judgment and Decision Making3.19
Quality Control Analysis3.19
Speaking3.13
Active Learning3.13
Knowledge
Building and Construction4.24
Mechanical3.86
Administration and Management3.85
Design3.72
Mathematics3.68
Customer and Personal Service3.58
Public Safety and Security3.32
Engineering and Technology3.23
Core abilities
Near Vision3.88
Problem Sensitivity3.88
Deductive Reasoning3.57
Information Ordering3.57
Finger Dexterity3.50
Oral Comprehension3.50
Visualization3.50
Inductive Reasoning3.44
Representative tasks for solar workers
- Visually inspect and test photovoltaic (PV) modules or systems. (Core)
- Apply weather sealing to array, building, or support mechanisms. (Core)
- Install required labels on solar system components and hardware. (Core)
- Assemble solar modules, panels, or support structures, as specified. (Core)
- Connect wires to circuit breakers, transformers, or other components. (Core)
- Provide preliminary sketches or cost estimates for materials or services. (Core)
- Install ground leads and connect power cables to equipment, such as motors. (Core)
- Construct or fabricate parts, using hand tools, according to specifications. (Core)
- Compile or maintain records of system operation, performance, and maintenance. (Core)
- Advise management on whether continued operation of equipment could be hazardous. (Core)
- Repair or replace wiring, equipment, or fixtures, using hand tools or power tools. (Core)
- Fasten small metal or plastic boxes to walls to house electrical switches or outlets. (Core)
Software and tools used in solar roles
Microsoft Excel 🔥
Microsoft Office software 🔥
Microsoft Outlook 🔥
Microsoft Word 🔥
Extensible markup language XML 🔥
Adobe Acrobat 🔥
Autodesk AutoCAD 🔥
Microsoft Windows 🔥
Salesforce software 🔥
SAP software 🔥
Computer aided design CAD software
SmartDraw
Socrates Contractor's Library
Insight Direct ServiceCEO
SoftEmpire Electrical Calculations
Lighting calculation software
Spreadsheet software
Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
AVEVA InTouch HMI
Turtle Creek Software Goldenseal
Word processing software
Construction Master Pro
Work scheduling software
Cost estimating software
Education & training paths into solar
IM
Apprenticeship3.2%
Job-Related Professional Certification2.6%
OJ
On-the-Job Training13.3%
PT
On-Site or In-Plant Training13.3%
Required Level of Education
Required Level of Education16.7%
Related Work Experience (Years)
Related Work Experience15.4%
Workforce composition of U.S. solar workers
| Demographic | Share of sector |
|---|---|
| 18 to 29 (%) | 30.4% |
| 30 to 54 (%) | 54.2% |
| 55 and over (%) | 15.4% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native (%) | 1.5% |
| Asian (%) | 8.3% |
| Black or African American, not Indigenous (%) | 7.7% |
| Female (%) | 28.8% |
| Formerly Incarcerated (%) | 1.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (%) | 24.0% |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (%) | 1.5% |
| Not Hispanic or Latino (%) | 76.0% |
| Represented by a Union (%) | 12.2% |
| Self-Identification of Disability (%) | 2.3% |
| Two or More Races (%) | 4.8% |
| Unknown Race (%) | 3.2% |
| Veterans (%) | 8.3% |
| White (%) | 73.0% |
Clean-energy technologies × NAICS industry groups (national)
| Technology | Construction (NAICS 23) | Manufacturing (NAICS 32-33) | Other (NAICS 81) | Professional Services (NAICS 51-56) | Wholesale Trade (42-45) | Utilities (NAICS 22) | Mining and Extraction (NAICS 21) | Agriculture (NAICS 11) | Commodity Flows | Pipeline Transportation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced building materials/insulation | 27,856 | 58,851 | 1,124 | 26,320 | 1,320 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Advanced Natural Gas | 10,421 | 2,677 | 843 | 11,730 | 5,522 | 49,375 | — | — | — | — |
| Air sealing | 37,359 | 2,349 | 252 | 12,330 | 18,881 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Battery | 41,225 | 14,294 | 1,154 | 13,408 | 8,727 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bio | 5,864 | 1,096 | 418 | 2,889 | 644 | 2,383 | — | — | — | — |
| Biodiesel fuels | — | 519 | 2 | 4,790 | 410 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Biofuels | 1,040 | — | 54 | 379 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified air-source heat pumps | 28,365 | 14,025 | 821 | 12,422 | 14,921 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified Appliances (not including HVAC) | 72,696 | 12,910 | 3,191 | 39,145 | 14,269 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified Commercial Food Service Equipment | 15,722 | 3,794 | 674 | 9,169 | 2,135 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified Data Center Equipment | 1,577 | 4,829 | 2,304 | 234 | 3,643 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified Electronics (TVs, Telephones, Audio/Video, etc.) | 154 | 3,924 | 1,072 | 270 | 1,833 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified ground-source or geothermal heat pumps | 2,691 | 1,542 | 68 | 1,201 | 1,575 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified Heating, Ventilation, and Cooling (HVAC), except for air-source or ground-source heat pumps | 164,338 | 20,997 | 2,373 | 9,043 | 5,968 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified Insulation | 101,927 | 7,328 | 201 | 4,781 | 1,221 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified LED lighting | 60,886 | 14,047 | 2,984 | 55,136 | 19,324 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified Roofing | 22,738 | 7,167 | 255 | 2,842 | 1,328 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified water heaters | 15,553 | 420 | 94 | 4,310 | 1,713 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Certified Windows, Doors and Skylights | 14,546 | 1,149 | 424 | 7,930 | 2,104 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coal | 6,441 | 992 | 855 | 23,570 | 5,943 | 22,639 | 44,740 | — | — | — |
| Combined Heat and Power | 4,228 | 1,976 | 183 | 19,248 | 4,144 | 1,607 | — | — | — | — |
| Compressed NG | 53 | 26 | 0 | 385 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Corn Ethanol | — | 9,572 | 108 | 2,884 | 6,959 | — | — | 16,552 | — | — |
| Crude Oil | 427 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Electric Power Generation Total | 303,682 | 108,685 | 43,216 | 205,662 | 83,064 | 189,490 | — | — | — | — |
| Energy auditing services | 1,364 | 0 | 132 | 1,191 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Energy Efficiency Total | 1,297,543 | 327,716 | 42,991 | 503,139 | 210,354 | — | — | — | — | — |
| EPTD Total | 488,025 | 66,618 | 13,370 | 130,290 | 43,195 | 443,621 | — | — | 124,336 | 55,771 |
| EV Charging | 1,324 | 182 | 166 | 641 | 579 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Fuels Total | 22,939 | 239,977 | 1,999 | 179,447 | 143,664 | — | 429,858 | 36,486 | — | — |
| Geothermal | 5,312 | 282 | 27 | 1,921 | 430 | 1,007 | — | — | — | — |
| Land-based Wind | 43,801 | 24,089 | 2,757 | 35,945 | 13,946 | 11,336 | — | — | — | — |
| LNG | 484 | 260 | 11 | 313 | 198 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Low Impact Hydropower | 1,894 | 3,215 | 68 | 4,379 | 2,555 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mechanical | 103 | 1,422 | 13 | 446 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Micro Grid | 12,299 | 3,651 | 552 | 3,246 | 1,722 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Motor Vehicles (Aggregate of Vehicle Technologies) | — | 290,671 | 1,023,239 | 66,390 | 54,356 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Motor Vehicles Component Parts | — | 710,911 | — | — | 377,263 | — | — | — | 110,298 | — |
| Motor Vehicles Total | — | 1,001,582 | 1,023,239 | 66,390 | 431,619 | — | — | — | 110,298 | 0 |
| Nat Gas | 11,016 | 3,474 | 1,070 | 8,623 | 3,514 | 19,578 | — | — | — | — |
| Nuclear | 0 | 1,731 | 0 | 76 | 2,494 | 40,100 | — | — | — | — |
| Nuclear Fuel | — | 2,794 | 0 | 5,779 | 947 | — | 440 | — | — | — |
| Offshore Natural Gas | — | 5,424 | 29 | 13,467 | 167 | — | 3,176 | — | — | — |
| Offshore Petroleum | — | 41,201 | 760 | 10,089 | 1,727 | — | 35,753 | — | — | — |
| Offshore Wind | 356 | 170 | 30 | 539 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oil and Other Petroleum | — | 5,312 | 132 | 4,430 | 2,147 | 454 | — | — | — | — |
| Onshore Natural Gas | — | 40,129 | 137 | 25,026 | 30,144 | — | 134,931 | — | — | — |
| Onshore Petroleum | 22,939 | 104,254 | 538 | 60,323 | 60,063 | — | 210,818 | — | — | — |
| Other | 31,125 | 40,672 | 3,025 | 19,067 | 4,904 | 4,703 | — | — | — | — |
| Other Biofuels | — | 162 | 25 | 4,124 | 1,159 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other Ethanol/Non-Woody Biomass, including Biodiesel | — | 2,784 | 71 | 10,251 | 5,837 | — | — | 2,756 | — | — |
| Other Fossil Fuel | — | 2,960 | 106 | 5,422 | 7,897 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other Gas | 280 | — | 0 | 123 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other Grid Modernization | 17,410 | 2,056 | 268 | 2,952 | 276 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other LED, CFL, and efficient lighting | 116,334 | 40,494 | 538 | 40,217 | 24,478 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other Liquid Fuel | 53 | — | 0 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other renewable heating and cooling (geothermal, biomass, heat pumps, etc.) | 53,164 | 4,745 | 128 | 16,962 | 5,006 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other Storage | 155 | — | 0 | 41 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pumped Hydro | 3,983 | 2,602 | 78 | 1,545 | 315 | — | — | — | — | 1,275 |
| Recycled building materials | 44,742 | 10,910 | 2,817 | 17,762 | 3,279 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Reduced water consumption products and appliances | 58,835 | 7,500 | 1,283 | 21,813 | 5,849 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Refined Petrol Fuels (Gas) | 464 | — | 217 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Refined Petrol Fuels (Liquid) | 414 | 278 | 225 | — | 31 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Renewable diesel fuels | — | 542 | 1 | 3,764 | 107 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Smart Grid | 12,380 | 1,678 | 185 | 11,350 | 1,627 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Solar | 181,671 | 46,513 | 35,852 | 58,487 | 31,700 | 16,333 | — | — | — | — |
| Solar thermal water heating and cooling | 16,530 | 2,666 | 656 | 8,426 | 3,221 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Storage Total | 49,743 | 19,057 | 1,833 | 17,171 | 9,355 | — | — | — | — | 1,275 |
| Thermal | 748 | 174 | 82 | 379 | 47 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Trad Transmission and Distribution | 365,840 | 43,302 | 12,108 | 84,539 | 37,639 | 443,621 | — | — | 124,336 | 55,771 |
| Traditional HVAC goods, control systems, and services | 330,635 | 31,799 | 17,046 | 166,352 | 63,484 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Traditional Hydropower | 9,353 | 13,162 | 237 | 9,006 | 6,357 | 19,975 | — | — | — | — |
| Transmission, Distribution, and Storage Total | 537,767 | 85,675 | 15,203 | 147,461 | 52,550 | 443,621 | — | — | 124,336 | 57,047 |
| Waste fuels | — | 154 | 4 | 4,356 | 100 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Woody Biomass/Cellulosic Biofuel | — | 4,670 | 44 | 10,833 | 1,049 | — | — | 17,178 | — | — |