Industry Perspective: Thoughts on the Solar Coaster from EnergeiaWorks CEO William Liuzza

Fifteen years ago, I was burning out in the tech space, having gone through my second financial recession and employment crisis in a span of six years. So when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into legislation, promising $787B of funding into government spending, tax credits, and loan guarantees, it inspired an idea: a recession-proof recruiting services firm. The primary goal of this Act was job creation, and significant funding was allocated for energy infrastructure, clean energy, alternative fuel vehicles and energy efficiency. With this, EnergeiaWorks was born. 

The recession-proof industry is, of course, far from a reality as those who’ve ridden the “solar coaster” can attest. Despite early bumps in the road (the Solyndra bankruptcy, for example), we pushed through—and the industrial age of clean energy is upon us! 

From 2010 to 2016, the number of solar jobs in the United States tripled. During this time period, our industry had four consecutive years of 20% job growth¹. For reference, the U.S. Department of Labor says the entire U.S. labor force grows at about 2 to 2.5% from year to year. Let that sink in for a minute. Solar jobs grew four times faster than those in the overall U.S. economy, all while increasing the percentage of women, veterans, and diverse racial groups that are employed in our industry. 

But since 2016, the US solar industry has suffered from missed opportunities for hyper-growth. This is especially apparent in a youthful industry like clean energy where disruptions can equal volatile labor markets. From federal attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Great Resignation, supply chain shortages and surpluses, utility battles with net metering, and a historically high federal interest rate, solar employment and market growth were slowed. [Check out the history of these events as documented in my monthly blog, The Recruiter’s Outlook.]

Did we have good times? Sure, we did! We had lots of promise with the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) which carved out $370B in spending to fight climate change with renewable energy and still the number of solar industry jobs only grew 5.9% in 2022. We certainly missed an anticipated mark of 1 million solar workers in 2024, as you’ll read in the most recent Solar Jobs Census by IREC, with virtually no job growth as a whole last year. Again, extremely frustrating. Despite 90% of new electricity generation in 2024 coming from renewable energy, the overall clean energy workforce remained flat. This lack of job growth fails our workers and community economic strength. 

Renewable energy is not a partisan issue—it’s secure energy infrastructure, it’s American technology and investment, and it’s American jobs. If we want our industry to thrive for the next 50 years, we need to improve our job health, because jobs are the pulse of an industry. 

Before you dive into the 2024 National Solar Jobs Census, I’d like to sincerely thank IREC for giving me the opportunity to get my eyes on the data in advance, and for the generous offer to share my opinion on the jobs market in clean energy. Through our partnerships, events, and content, EnergeiaWorks has historically and consistently been an advocate and partner to many of the nonprofits that support our industry. Knowledge is power, facts are fuel. If you value the work of the IREC, its technical expertise and innovative workforce solutions, and appreciate their dedication to providing our industry with the information we need to thrive, please consider donating today to help ensure we will have a Solar Jobs Census for 2025 and the years ahead.

1. See U.S. Solar Employment Growth by Sector in the Solar Jobs Census.