Solar jobs are up across the U.S., after two consecutive years of declines. But that growth is mixed in our region.
According to the from the nonprofit solar energy advocate, The Solar Foundation, more than 5,600 solar jobs were added last year.
Ed Gilliland is the senior director of programs for the organization. He said employment is going up, because the cost of building solar projects are going down 鈥� even with tariffs on imported materials.
鈥淭he global markets for these materials, the prices are down globally. And they鈥檙e down enough to really offset the impact of the tariffs,鈥� Gilliland said. 鈥淪o prices are still lower now than they were before the tariffs.鈥�
Gilliland said more large scale utility projects are coming online, especially as states look to adopt more aggressive renewable energy targets.
鈥淭he utility-scale solar market was much more active in 2019, requiring additional solar workers to begin or complete these projects,鈥� the report states.
In our region, the results of the analysis were mixed. For example, Nevada has the most per capita solar jobs in the country. Wyoming ranked 47th.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, the O鈥機onnor Center For the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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