SOLAR JOBS HEATING UP
* Between 2012 and 2017, solar employment grew by 110 percent overall or 16 percent annually, adding 131,000 jobs. Within this period, solar employment grew nine times faster than the overall U.S. economy, and one in every 100 new jobs was a solar job.* But, sectors such as installation, sales and distribution, and project development lost about 7,500 jobs in 2017, while the manufacturing sector lost about 1,200 jobs. Still, the long-term trend continues to show growth. The solar workforce grew by 168 percent in the past seven years from about 93,000 jobs in 2010 to over 250,000 jobs in 2017.* Solar makes up just under 2 percent of overall U.S. energy generation, yet it employs twice as many workers as the coal industry, almost five times as many as nuclear power, and nearly as many workers as the natural gas industry, based on 2016 data.* Women made up 27 percent of the solar workforce in 2017, down 1 percent from 2016. Veterans made up 9 percent of solar workers, which is 2 percent more than the overall U.S. workforce.Source: The Solar Foundation
Volkswagen’s 65-acre solar farm stretches to the north from its main buildings at the automotive factory campus.So-called “green” jobs are generating a swirl of interest in the marketplace, and a pair of Southeast Tennessee community colleges say they’re filling pressing needs in the environmental sector.
One of the fastest-growing offerings at Cleveland State Community College is the Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries program, according to associate professor Robert Brewer.
“The program is growing by leaps and bounds,” says Brewer, who’s also coordinator of the Greg A. Vital Center for Natural Resources and Conservation at Cleveland State.
Meanwhile, at Chattanooga State Community College, a surge of public interest in solar energy has businesses and other entities offering more internships than the college can fill, says Tracie Clifford, interim head of engineering systems technology.