Solar industry job growth jumped 20% in 2013
David R. Baker
Published 5:11 pm, Monday, January 27, 2014

Nearly half of all U.S. solar workers counted in the survey are in installation, rather than manufacturing. Photo: Ed Andrieski, Associated Press

6Job growth in 2013 stayed sluggish for much of the American economy.
But for solar companies, it was a banner year.
Employment in the U.S. solar industry jumped 20 percent in 2013 to hit 142,698, according to an annual survey released Monday. The number of solar jobs across the country has grown 53 percent since 2010. Last year, the industry added 56 U.S. jobs per day, on average.
"That growth is putting people back to work and helping local economies," said Andrea Luecke, executive director of the Solar Foundation. Her research and advocacy group has issued its National Solar Jobs Census every year since 2010.
Nearly half of all U.S. solar workers counted in the most recent survey install systems, rather than make the equipment. Installation employed 69,658 people across the country last year, up from 57,177 in 2012.
Solar manufacturing, in contrast, employed 29,851 people in the United States, a slight increase from 29,742 the previous year.
The foundation plans to release a state-by-state breakdown of the employment numbers next month. But in 2012, California had 43,700 solar jobs, 37 percent of the nationwide total. The Golden State is the nation's largest solar market, and many of the country's biggest solar companies - including SolarCity, SunPower and Sunrun - call it home.
The survey found that the average installer earned about $20 per hour in 2013. It also found that the country's solar workforce is mostly male, with women representing just 18 percent of the total.
David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @davidbakersf