New research highlights solar jobs expansion in local U.S. communities; Boom adds tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy annually

The Solar Foundation (Washington, DC, U.S.) on March 289^th, 2017 released data on the number of solar jobs in every U.S. state, metropolitan area, county, and congressional district, revealing the impact of the nation’s historic solar jobs boom down to the local level.

This data can be found on an interactive Solar Jobs Map available at SolarStates.org.

The new Solar Jobs Map is part of the data collection effort for The Solar Foundation’s Solar Jobs Census 2016, the seventh annual report on solar employment in the United States.

In addition to the map, The Solar Foundation produced 50 state-level fact sheets and released an analysis of the economic impact of the solar labor market nationwide and in five states: California, Florida, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

260,077 solar workers in the U.S.; USD 62.5 billion in direct sales

The Solar Jobs Census 2016 found that employment increased by a historic 25 percent nationwide from 2015 to 2016, for a total of 260,077 solar workers.

This growth occurred across all regions of the country -- the number of solar jobs increased in 44 of the 50 states from 2015 to 2016. In 21 of the 50 states, solar jobs grew by 50 percent or more.

Metropolitan areas across the nation also saw historic solar jobs growth from 2015 to 2016, as the data in the Solar Jobs Map shows.

Solar energy boom adds tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy annually

“The solar industry is generating well-paying jobs everywhere from Detroit to Miami to Salt Lake City, and in states from Ohio to Texas to South Carolina,” said Andrea Luecke, President and Executive Director of The Solar Foundation.

“America’s solar energy boom adds tens of billions of dollars to our economy each year, all while providing an affordable, reliable, and local energy source.”

The Solar Foundation found that with 260,077 solar workers nationwide, the solar industry produced USD 62.5 billion in direct sales. The solar industry’s broader labor impact that includes direct, indirect, and induced jobs amounted to nearly 789,000 U.S. jobs.

These jobs paid more than USD 50 billion in salaries, wages, and benefits and produced USD 154 billion in total economic activity for the United States in 2016.

State-based economic impact data for California, Florida, New York, Ohio, and Texas are available via fact sheets at SolarStates.org.

 source:http://www.solarserver.com