US Solar Industry Employs 174,000 People!

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, Resource Efficiency

The 2014 National Solar Jobs Census is in, and it has great news for the US.

173,807 people are employed by the solar industry, adding 31,000 jobs last year – a growth rate of 21.8%, from 2013– another strong year. When you add in the indirect jobs it stimulates, the industry contributes to 700,000 jobs.

Solar employment grew nearly 20 times faster than the national average of 1.1%, far outpacing fossil fuel jobs.

Fossil jobs created in 2014:

  • Oil and gas pipeline construction 10,529
  • Oil and natural gas industry: 8,688
  • Total employment for coal mining is 93,185; oil and gas, 216,000

You can see the solar industry grew more than expected:

 

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