The U.S. solar industry now supports over 280,000 workers, yet the industry struggles to find an adequate number of qualified personnel to keep up with accelerated project timelines, according to the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report (USEER) and the IREC National Solar Jobs Census. The study finds that the industry will require approximately 355,000 workers by late 2026 to support installation targets of 60 GW to 70 GW, leaving a projected near-term gap of 53,000 positions.

While the solar industry looks to fill this gap with skilled workers, other sectors are recruiting from the solar workers have the technical skills needed in other power sectors. According to the United States Energy & Employment Report (USEER), the electric power generator (EPG) sector employed 933,800 workers in 2024 with close to 40% of them in solar.

According to the USEER report, most solar EPG employees were found in the construction industry, which accounted for 181,700 workers (49.0%), followed by professional and business services, including engineering, financial and investment services, permitting and compliance, and consulting, with 58,500 workers (15.8%).

While nearly half the solar workers are in construction, the solar industry has matured to the point where now has highly trained high-voltage engineers, SCADA professionals, asset performance specialists, cybersecurity experts, supply chain analysts and more.

As the solar industry grows and trains its workforce, other sectors including battery storage, data centers, nuclear and AI are taking notice. Jack Roberts, an energy workforce and infrastructure hiring expert at Ecotal, a specialist recruitment firm focused on the energy sector, spoke with pv magazine USA about this shift.

People are drawn to renewable energy careers because they can find a mix of technically challenging positions in companies with purpose-driven mission, Roberts noted.  One commonality among renewable sectors is that the same types of workers are needed across them all. “SCADA systems is a skillset that’s easy to transfer from solar to battery systems, for example,” Roberts said. “Nuclear needs commissioning specialists and engineers, data centers and battery energy storage need land acquisition expertise.”

The other EPG sectors are drawing from the solar industry because, as young as it is, solar is now a robust and mature sector, Roberts noted. Roberts is seeing firsthand the rising demand for highly specialized roles including grid interconnection, transmission planning, substation engineering, cybersecurity, SCADA, and construction management professionals.

Roberts said he’s also seeing ingenuity in some of the ways workers are acquiring these skills, pointing to new veteran recruitment and apprenticeship programs. He said Cypress Creek Renewables is an example of a solar developer that’s leveraging a training partnership really well. The company provided $25,000 to Piedmont Community College, located in Roxboro, North Carolina, to help develop programs to train workers in the skills the company needs. The donation helped purchase state-of-the-art equipment to strengthen the school’s electrical training program and fund digital marketing campaigns for its electrical power production.

Several organizations have developed programs to help companies develop registered apprenticeship programs as well as to help job seekers prepare to enter the renewable energy workforce.  For example, The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) offers a free online course designed to prepare job seekers to enter clean energy jobs through Registered Apprenticeship pathways.

Another organization, The Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) has a Consulting Network designed to help energy companies strengthen workforce development strategies and expand talent pipelines. CEWD is a non-profit consortium of more than 140 energy companies, associations, unions, educational institutions, and government entities working together to unite energy stakeholders in attracting and developing a highly skilled workforce. 

These apprenticeship programs will benefit all power sectors as rising electricity demand continues to drive workforce demands.