jobs

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council has revealed a 3.5% growth in the number of jobs in the US solar sector between 2021 and 2022.

A lack of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) capacity in Spain represents a key challenge for the country’s solar industry as PV plant deployment soars and the government authorises gigawatts of new projects.

In the six months since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed into law, the US has seen over 100,000 new clean energy jobs created across 31 states as companies begin to capitalise on the incentives and security that the bill offers.

The solar industry of the future could see frontier markets become core countries for investment while developers may explore more decentralised projects to overcome land challenges.   

The largest solar investment in US history, a pivot to a vertically integrated PV manufacturing facility in the state of Georgia by Qcells, was enabled by a combination of state support, federal government investment and related benefits coming from the Inflation Reduction (IRA), according to the company.

Europe’s solar industry must address the talent shortage, supply chain challenges and permitting hurdles to build on last year’s strong installation figures, according to PV industry experts.

Nearly a third of all renewable technologies employment came from the solar PV industry in 2021, according to a new report from the IRENA.

Under the REPowerEU scenario to install 750GWdc of solar across the European Union by 2030, the bloc will require 1 million solar workers, double the numbers from 2021.

Installation and project development companies drove job creation in the US solar sector last year as the industry employed 255,037 workers, a 9.2% increase on 2020, a report has revealed.