Solar Job Growth Hits Record High, Shows Economic Power of Clean Energy, Group Says

New report shows impact of the boom in installations:  more than 50,000 jobs added in 2016 and 25,000 more projected in 2017.

The American solar industry employed a record-high 260,077 workers in late 2016, according to a new report by The Solar Foundation.

The Washington, D.C.-based solar advocacy nonprofit has tracked changes in the solar workforce since 2010. Their latest report, released Tuesday, reveals that the industry added 51,215 jobs in 2016 and has had job growth of at least 20 percent for four straight years.  It added jobs in 44 out of 50 states last year.

California continued to be the best state for solar employment last year with 100,050 jobs, up 32 percent from 2015.  Texas, the third-ranked state for solar job numbers, similarly saw a 34 percent increase to 9,396 in 2016.

Massachusetts, the second-ranked state, and Nevada, the fourth-ranked state, however, experienced dips in their job numbers.  So did Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Tennessee.  This report provided the state-by-state jobs numbers for 2016 and 2015, but offered little analysis.  That will be the focus of a follow-up report slated to be released in March.

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