Forbes headline: New Job Numbers Show Bright Future For Solar Energy
Katie Sola at Forbes writes that the solar energy industry added 73,615 jobs in 2016, more than oil, natural gas and coal combined. This is on top of the fact that solar already employs twice as many people as the coal industry. “Trump promised to create jobs and revive America’s struggling coal industry throughout his campaign,” she writes. “The decline in coal plants and the rise of natural gas and solar power makes that unlikely. New jobs data suggests that the real growth in energy jobs is coming from the sky, not the ground.”
That’s not all. Solar accounted for two percent of all new jobs created in 2016 and is hiring faster than its competitors.
The money’s not bad, either. The median national hourly wage is $45 for sales jobs in the solar industry and $26 for installers, according to the Solar Foundation. Construction workers trained in solar technology will earn $20 or $22 an hour after about a year, according to a 2015 report on Maryland solar jobs by the foundation.