Over the past 10 years, the one thing you hear over and over is a low jobs report and a high unemployment rate causing a sluggish economy. The key to a vibrant economy is getting people back to work.  Could solar be the answer to the US economic woes? According to The Solar Foundation, it may be.  Based on the report out by TSF,  2016 solar employment, grew at the fastest pace seen in the last seven years, with solar jobs making up 2% of job creation nationally.  The Reports goes on to site that out of the  260,000 solar jobs created, nationally last year 100,000 were out of California alone which is an increase of 25% over 2015.  The reports also compares Solar to the rest of the Power industry ranking it #2 only behind petroleum products which it trailing by about ½ , and puts it neck in neck with Natural gas and coal.

The question is why?

Is it because demand for home solar has gone up so much over the years?  Maybe not, according to Bloomberg Installation growth is slowing, utilities are scaling back after meeting state mandates and consumer rooftop demand has been threatened by changes in local policies. With that report in the air one might think the industry is week.  The U.S Department of  Energy report would seem to agree yet it goes on to say.  The global solar-power market has been turbulent for manufacturers, as prices have plunged amid an oversupply of panels. But the falling prices, as well as faster development for large-scale solar-power plants, have driven strong demand for solar equipment in the U.S.

So what does that mean for the Unemployed?

The biggest thing that one thinks of when looking for a new job is “am I qualified?” What skills do I need? Do I need to go back to College or a Vocational training program. Reports say no. In fact a portion of the industry's success seems to come from the fact  that the demand is impart due to the low barrier of entry.  For many install company's employees are trained on the job with the average job for installers being $26 an hour based on last year statistics.   

Even if you are not the blue collar type of worker, keep in mind there are a plethora of needs in the industry that allow even the white collar worker, or tech guru to get into the game. Admin jobs, social media, call center reps, sales reps, designers are all areas of demand that continue to grow as new players come into the market.

All in all if you need a job, Solar is where its at with a demand climbing to 105 gigawatts by 2021 verses 38 gigawatts today. So grab your coffee and start job hunting because there is a solar job out there waiting for you.