You hear a lot of talk out of politicians in Washington, DC about bringing back American jobs. Especially in the coal industry.
Coal jobs have shrunk by 40% nationwide since 2011. Perhaps the federal government will be able to reduce that trend in the future. But what about solar jobs?
It turns out that solar now provides more jobs in electricity generation than oil, coal and gas combined, according to Forbes, as the graphic below explains.
Nationwide, one in fifty new jobs created in America last year were in the solar industry. This includes installers who put solar up on home roofs but also people who design, manufacture and assemble solar equipment, as well as people who work in management, finance and marketing.
Solar Jobs: Made in the USA and Growing Fast
More than 260,000 Americans work full time in the solar industry, according to the latest jobs report released earlier this year by the Solar Foundation.
That’s more than the number of people who work at Amazon, Google and Facebook combined. More than 50,000 of those jobs were added just last year alone — a whopping 25% increase over the previous year.
“These are good jobs that pay better than the national average and often become careers,” says Andrea Luecke of the Solar Foundation. “And the opportunities are nationwide…overall solar jobs went up in 44 out of 50 states and everywhere there’s huge potential for more solar development and the local jobs that come with it.”
In Virginia, solar companies created 1,273 jobs last year, a massive 65% growth over the previous year. Today, in the Old Dominion, 3,236 people work full time in the solar industry, ranking the state 20th nationwide in solar jobs.
Just as it is around the country, solar is one of the fastest growing industries in Virginia, creating jobs that pay better than average and can’t be outsourced to foreign countries or automated away by machines.
Solar jobs in Virginia are filled by our neighbors today just as they will be in the future. That’s great news for the state’s economy.
We here at Main Street Solar are proud to provide some of those good jobs in Southwest Virginia, an area that’s been hard hit by unemployment in coal mines. And as more homeowners install solar, we hope to keep offering more and more good jobs in clean energy in the future.
— Andrew Brenner, Main Street Solar
