Feb 12, 2016

Vermont Among Leaders in Solar Jobs for Third Year

A new report released by the national non-profit The Solar Foundation, found Vermont to be #3 in solar jobs per capita in the country.
 
This marks the third year in a row Vermont is in the top-3 for local solar jobs. 
 
According to the jobs census, the top jobs sectors in Vermont are installation jobs, manufacturing, followed by sales/distribution and project development jobs.  Median wages for solar installation jobs are higher paying jobs than the national average, at $23.00/hour.
 
Nationally, the solar industry continues to set record job and installation growth, creating jobs at a rate 12  times faster than the economy.
 
"The job-creating strength of our industry is testament to Vermont's innovative and entrepreneurial energy business environment as well as stable state policies," said Jeff Forward, Renewable Energy Vermont chair.  "This report confirms what we all know: solar jobs will continue to fuel our state's economy and power our future growth.
 
  This national report also confirms that Vermont can either incubate its share of new solar jobs or they will go elsewhere around the country," added Forward.
 
A Vermont specific jobs census within the report, finds that:
  • Employers expect to add approximately 178 new solar workers to payrolls over the next 12 months – a growth rate of 13% – far above the projected growth rate of the state’s workforce as a whole
  • Installation firms employ the largest portion – at 58.8% – of the Vermont solar workforce, followed by manufacturing firms at 18.4%
  • Vermont for the first time topped 20,000 homes powered by solar and ranks 21st in cumulative solar capacity installed nationally
Other recent Vermont jobs reports have found more than 16,000 jobs in Vermont's energy sector. For the Solar Foundation's census, employment numbers for solar are only counted for workers that spend at least 50 percent of their time in solar, undercounting employment figures for workers who spend only part of their time on solar, common in the emerging Vermont industry.
 
Addressing workforce training needs, the census found that "in order to sustain this future growth, it is essential that Vermont employers have ready access to quality talent and skilled labor or enhance their on-the-job training offerings. To achieve this, more focused and comprehensive solar training efforts – in-house, in-state, and across the country – must be sufficiently emphasized."
 
Vermont Technical College President Dan Smith said, “Vermont Tech is committed to the idea that we can serve Vermonters and the Vermont solar industry in a way that ensures access to workforce and opportunity are no longer obstacles to the state’s economic expansion.”
 
Though Vermont no longer offers any state rebates and only recently adopted a Renewable Energy Standard beginning in 2017, the report cited "stable state policies" as helping fuel the jobs growth.
 
Renewable Energy Vermont (REV)