Solar Energy Jobs Growing by Leaps and Bounds

When it comes to getting a job in the booming solar power industry, there may be little need to worry about diplomas or degrees.

“Companies are not interested in education; they’re looking for experience,” Andrea Luecke, executive director of the Solar Foundation, said Monday, speaking at a news conference in Washington, D.C., announcing the results of the group’s National Solar Jobs Census.

Installing solar panels on home rooftops and in giant multi-megawatt utility-scale solar farms is one of the United States’ fastest-growing ways for both residents and power companies to reduce their climate impact in a warming world.

For the solar industry, helping to reduce America’s carbon footprint means inviting those with skilled hands to apply for a job.

The solar sector is growing so quickly as solar panel costs drop that employment in the industry jumped 21.8 percent in 2014, adding 31,000 new jobs in that time for a total of 174,000 solar workers nationwide, Luecke said.  Solar employment is expected to jump by another 36,000 workers this year.

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