From pv magazine USA
According to IREC's 13th annual “National Solar Jobs Census,” full-time jobs in the US solar and energy storage industries grew in 2022, and demand will only increase in the future.
The new report shows that the solar energy workforce grew by 3.5% in 2022, with a total of 263,883 solar workers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, up by 8,846 jobs since 2021. Energy storage jobs grew 4.6% over 2021.
“The solar industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade, overcoming one challenge after the next to provide a quarter million jobs for Americans of all educational levels and backgrounds,” said Larry Sherwood, president and CEO of IREC. “With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we can look forward to transformational jobs growth in solar, batteries, and other clean energy industries in the years ahead.”
About two-thirds of the US solar jobs are at installation and project development firms. The strongest growth sector was the residential market, which grew 11% or by about 9,500 jobs. The utility-scale market contracted by about 6,000 jobs in 2022, which was a challenging year due to the threat of solar tariffs and supply chain concerns.
About 33,400 jobs were in manufacturing associated with solar, and that sector is expected to grow as manufacturers of modules, cells and wafers open factories in the United States to take advantage of the production tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
California leads the way, with a total of 2,404 solar jobs added in 2022, followed by New York (988 jobs), Texas (904 jobs), Florida (506 jobs) and Massachusetts (476 jobs). The top US state for energy storage jobs was also California, with a total of 17,580 positions.
An interactive state map of jobs in solar and other clean energy industries is available here.
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