The number of jobs created to make, sell and install solar panels in the U.S. grew at a record pace last year, and grew much faster than the overall American economy, which is welcome news for the solar industry in the face of policy uncertainty.
The new figures were issued on Tuesday morning, courtesy of a new report from the The Solar Foundation. The report -- the seventh annual version to come from the non-profit -- found that there were 260,077 solar workers as of November 2016, which represents nearly 25 percent growth from the amount of solar jobs recorded the year prior. In comparison, jobs in the overall U.S. economy grew at a rate of 1.45 percent.
Last year's solar market performance made 2016 the fourth consecutive year that U.S. solar jobs grew by 20 percent or more, the report found. It also made for some eye-opening figures, like how 1 out of every 50 new jobs, or 2 percent of new jobs, created in the U.S. in 2016 came from the solar industry.
The news highlights how the U.S. solar industry is becoming an important economic driver, and creating a substantial amount of jobs for American workers in various sectors like construction, sales, marketing and engineering. The U.S. solar industry now employs more workers than natural gas, more than double the number of workers in the coal industry, and in comparison to other energy sectors, employment in solar only trails the U.S. oil industry.
The latest figures will be important ones for the solar industry to tout in the face of potential policy uncertainty stemming from newly-elected President Donald Trump.
“The solar industry is an American success story,” said Andrea Luecke, executive director of The Solar Foundation, and these numbers “are proof positive” of that. “Despite partisanship and the election, people really do love solar. Every poll says so. Even conservative Republicans favor solar,” added Luecke.
source:www.greentechmedia.com