Acknowledgments | Solar Jobs Census Sponsors | About IREC | Methodology
About the 2024 Solar Jobs Census
Acknowledgments
The 15th annual National Solar Jobs Census is published by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). The analysis is based on a quantitative survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy for the United States Energy & Employment Report (USEER) 2025. The survey was administered by BW Research Partnership. We are thankful to the U.S. Department of Energy for providing access to the survey data. Full details on the methodology can be found here (see Methodology).
Thank you to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) for providing industry data that enhanced the data analysis, and for advance review of the report content by the following SEIA staff: Tyler Thompson, Manager, Research; Justin Baca, Vice President of Markets & Research; Erika Symmonds, Vice President of Equity and Workforce Development; and Beck Long, Director – Workforce Services & Apprenticeship.
IREC is solely responsible for the report content and any errors.
Unless otherwise indicated, all solar jobs data from 2010–2024 are derived from the National Solar Jobs Census report series, which is available at https://irecusa.org/programs/solar-jobs-census/.
The primary author of this report is Avery Palmer, former IREC Workforce Communications Director. Additional contributors from the IREC team include: Wrishija Roy, Program Manager, Local Initiatives; Gwen Brown, Vice President of Communications; Megan Berry, Communications Contractor; Nicole Wilson, Communications and Digital Media Manager; Megan Howes, Assistant Director – Workforce Development; Ed Gillland, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives; Leslie Graham, Vice President of Development; Chris Nichols, Interim CEO; and Pagan Poggione, Vice President, Workforce Program.
For technical questions and media inquiries about the report, please contact Gwen Brown at gwenb@irecusa.org.
When referencing this material, please cite this publication as follows: Interstate Renewable Energy Council, National Solar Jobs Census 2024 (November 2025), available at https://irecusa.org/programs/solar-jobs-census/.
2024 Solar Jobs Census Sponsors
IREC gratefully acknowledges the following sponsors who have made the production of this report possible:
Lead Sponsor:
Additional Sponsors:
We would also like to thank CM3, Cenergy, Solect Energy, and Boviet Solar for sponsoring this year’s report.
About IREC
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) builds the foundation for rapid adoption of clean energy and energy efficiency to benefit people, the economy, and our planet. Its vision is a 100% clean energy future that is reliable, resilient, and equitable. IREC develops and advances the regulatory reforms, technical standards, and workforce and community-based solutions needed to enable the streamlined integration of clean, distributed energy resources. IREC has been trusted for its independent clean energy expertise for over 40 years, since its founding in 1982. For more information, visit irecusa.org or follow IREC on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram.
Methodology
The National Solar Jobs Census is based on IREC’s analysis of a rigorous survey administered by BW Research to 42,800 energy firms in the fourth quarter of 2024 and first quarter of 2025, with 10,900 firms providing full survey responses. This survey was administered for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2025 United States Energy & Employment Report (USEER). The USEER is a comprehensive summary of jobs across all U.S. energy industries, including solar and battery storage employment.
The survey was conducted via telephone (more than 1,350,000 outbound calls) and email, with more than 264,000 emails sent to participants throughout the U.S. The survey was administered between October 22, 2024, and February 17, 2025, and each survey averaged 18 minutes in length. The margin of error for all energy firms that answered questions related to energy employment in the survey is ±0.94% at a 95% confidence interval. The margin of error increases for each subgroup of respondents that participated in the survey. For example, the margin of error for questions answered by all firms that identified as solar photovoltaic (PV) is ±2.83% at a 95% confidence interval. Full details on the methodology are available in the USEER, Appendix C.1
The National Solar Jobs Census analyzes data from the USEER survey to provide more detailed information on U.S. solar employment. The Solar Jobs Census defines a solar worker as a worker who spends a majority of their time on solar-related work. The Census also includes a tally of workers who spend a plurality of their time on solar-related work.
Footnotes
- U.S. Department of Energy, 2025 United States Energy & Employment Report (Aug. 2025), https://www.energy.gov/policy/us-energy-employment-jobs-report-useer.