News

Solar energy installations are at record levels but jobs are down

Houston Chronicle · last updated

The solar boom underway in places such as West Texas has been heralded by politicians and industry as a means to replace the fossil fuel jobs that are expected to disappear in the transition to clean energy. Only those job gains are not materializing as expected.

Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: solar

State of Play

Declining costs and government encouragement have resulted in a rapid increase in solar energy production in the United States over the past 10 years, although solar’s share remains small: 1.6 percent of all electricity generation in 2018. That rapid growth is projected to continue.

More informationabout ENERGY BASICS: solar