Solar Job News – Good news for California job hunters, a new US solar job census put out by the Solar Foundation, a nonprofit, non-lobbying organization, found that California is leading the way for new solar jobs. In the overall US economy, solar jobs are growing nearly 13 times faster that all other jobs with a whopping 26% growth reported. This expected growth rate is significantly higher than the U.S. economy-wide expectation of 2% growth over the same period. Over 1/2 of all solar companies expect to increase the number of employees over the next 12 months.
The Solar Foundation indicated that it worked on the National Solar Jobs Census 2010 with Green LMI Consulting, with the assistance of Cornell University. Of 93,502 jobs, 43,934 were in solar installation, 24,916 in manufacturing, 11,744 in wholesale trade and 12,908 categorized as “other.” Solar installation was expected to be the fastest-growing occupation in solar, growing between 51 and 66 percent over the next year.
Why? According to U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, it is mainly because of the government’s focus on solar power. “Among other things, this study shows that investments made through the Recovery Act including the $2.3 billion in tax credits to U.S. based clean energy manufacturing technology are already generating positive results,” Solis said in a Solar Foundation press release.
We think it is much more than that. Everything about solar and other forms of renewable energy are good for America. Solar means local jobs, local economic growth and money that stays in the local communities. Clean air, an easy way to control household expenses, why wouldn’t we be doing much more of this?
U.S. solar jobs census finds solar employment on the rise with more than half of all solar employers planing to expand their workforce in the next year. The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit solar education and research organization, released a first-of-its-kind review of the solar workforce in the United States. The report, titled, “National Solar Jobs Census 2010: A Review of the U.S. Solar Workforce” found that hiring in the solar workforce is on the rise. More than half of solar employers nationally plan to increase their workforce in the next year.
“Among other things, this study shows that investments made through Recovery Act including the $2.3 billion in tax credits to U.S. based clean energy manufacturing are already generating positive results,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “The solar energy technology sector is an increasingly important source of good jobs for Americans. Fostering the growth of the emerging solar industry will help protect our environment, ensure the U.S. remains competitive in the global economy, and offer great opportunities for the nation’s working families.”
“This first-ever national census shows that solar jobs are on the rise and expected to grow 26 percent in the coming year,” said Andrea Luecke, acting executive director of The Solar Foundation. “By examining the data from thousands of companies along the entire supply-chain, the study shows that the solar industry is having a substantial and positive impact on the U.S. economy.”
As of August 2010, the National Solar Jobs Census 2010 identified more than 16,700 solar employment sites and 93,000 solar jobs in all 50 states. It also found that solar employers expect to increase the number of solar power workers by 26 percent, representing nearly 24,000 net new jobs by August 2011. This rate is significantly higher than the expected three percent net job loss in fossil fuel power generation and the economy-wide expectation of two percent growth over the same period.
The survey examined employment along the solar value chain, including installation, wholesale trade, manufacturing, utilities and all other fields and includes growth rates and job numbers for 31 separate occupations. The report included data from more than 2,400 solar company survey it said in printing the results.
The National Solar Jobs Census 2010 was conducted by The Solar Foundation and Green LMI Consulting with technical assistance from Cornell University.
“This solar jobs study contains high-quality research methodology,” said John Bunge, Associate Professor in the Department of Statistical Science at Cornell University, and an associate professor of social statistics at Cornell’s ILR School. “Using both primary and secondary data sources further strengthens this data and ensures even higher confidence in its results.”