When people talk about solar panel jobs most of the time they refer to the solar panel installation job, but there is more to it than installing solar panels when it comes to jobs that are available in the solar industry.
You can get different types of solar panel jobs in different stages of solar panel, from the manufacturer, the planning, the design of the solar system, and of course the installation phase.
In each phase you can get a job from the entry-level to the expert level, this depends on your skills, education level, and experience.
Solar Panel Jobs
For me, solar panel jobs are divided into four major segments, solar panel manufacturing, solar system design, solar project management, and solar panel installations.
I am going to explain in each segment what is needed to get a job and how you can start searching for that solar panel job you love.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the process of making solar panels and every component that goes with it, solar batteries, solar inverters, etc.
Here you can get a job in many fields like assembling, material handling, planning, production, and many more.
Most jobs in this segment will require you to have a degree in electronics engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and business management.
System design
This is the job I used to have, in this type of job what you do is size and design solar panel systems, in my case, I used to design for houses and industrial complexes.
In order to perform when in this job you need to understand the basic principles of electricity (basically ohm’s law), you need to be able to read and understand electrical drawing.
You need to have a good knowledge of Microsoft Excel ( you will use it a lot) and to be able to use drawing software ( the standard one is AutoCAD).
You will need to have good knowledge of the national electric code, fire, and building codes, and a general understanding of utility costs in your area.
Also, you will be running simulations in different solar panel system design software, to be honest with you, you do not need a degree to do this, but most companies will want you to have one.
All this knowledge will help you to design a perfect solar panel system that satisfies your customer’s needs, remember a badly designed system can cost your customer more money.
A degree in engineering in mechanical, electrical, mechatronics, electronics, or any related field is a nice to have.
Project management
Project management is a process of designing and selling solar panels systems, a project manager is a person who will be the connection between the solar system designer and the final customer.
A project manager is the one who is responsible for obtaining permission from the authorities when needed, they need to be able to understand tax credits and incentives from the government also they need to be a good salesperson.
In order to land this type of job, you need to have a background in engineering, sales, marketing, project management, and the ability to speak clearly ( trust me this is very important).
Solar installer
This is where most people who work in the solar industry are employed, it is estimated that about 51% of the people who work in the solar industry in the USA are solar installers.
Most people who work as solar panels installers have a background in Carpentry, Roofing, Plumbing and have a good understanding of the basic principles of electricity.
When you can find solar panel jobs?
You can start by looking at your local yellow pages and newspapers, with the internet, it because easier to find these jobs even from different states or countries, all you need to create an account with indeed.com, create an alert of the jobs you are interested and you will start receiving jobs alerts, just apply the ones you like.
Conclusion
That is it, those are solar panel jobs available in the solar industry, which sector do you work in or want to work in? let me know in the comment section below.