High fuel costs, government incentives and a growing cultural acceptance that we collectively need to move beyond fossil fuels have created the perfect storm and sparked tremendous home owner interest in converting to home solar power. Meanwhile, relevant tech is getting cheaper and more durable, and utility solar energy development is also expanding. These shifts have boosted the growth of the solar industry and captured the nation’s attention and imagination.

Utility Solar Energy

Utility companies, concerned about expiring tax incentives, added significant solar capacity to their operations last year. The government also extended solar tax incentives, and industry watchers expect additional growth this year. 2016 will also see a new nuclear plant come on line, the first in 20 years. Renewable energy sources, combined with this new plant, are expected to produce two-thirds of new energy capabilities in the country over the coming year.

Commercial and Home Solar Energy

Residential solar power continues to be the fastest growing area of the U.S. solar industry, having experienced a 66% increase in solar capacity installation last year. Continued tax incentives and lowering installation costs appear to be fueling the growth of this industry. Commercial solar power installations are also increasing, as more businesses are taking advantage of a plethora of tax incentives and seeking to lower their operating expenses, not to mention their carbon footprint.

Home and business owners need to know that these tax advantages are only available when a professional installs their solar energy systems.

Work with Bay Area Solar Power Experts

Century Roof and Solar are experts in Bay Area solar energy. Our trained staff installs systems for home owners, apartment buildings and businesses. In fact, we have both a C10 electrical contractor and C39 roofing contractor – this in house expertise gives us the ability to maximize the efficiency and durability of our clients’ solar energy systems, regardless of where they live and their roof types. Call us to set up an appointment by calling (888) 233-7548, or visit noutililtybill.com to learn more.

For fifteen years now, since 2000, photovoltaics have been the fastest-growing renewable-energy technology. According to the International Energy Agency, photovoltaic solar tiles are likely to provide 16 percent of the world’s energy by 2050, up from only one percent at present. In the United States alone, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Administration, solar energy production has been more than doubling annually for over a decade. What does this astonishing trend mean in employment?

It means good news. In the United States, employment in the solar-energy sector is increasing 20 times faster than in the job market overall. One in every 78 new jobs last year was in the solar-energy field, the largest single category being solar roofing installations.

As to the quality of the jobs in this field, wages and working conditions are better than average. One indication of this is that over 90 percent of those working in solar energy work exclusively in solar energy. Nationally, the median wage for a solar photovoltaic installer is $19 an hour.

Solar energy currently employs upwards of 174,000 workers in installation, manufacturing, selling, and distribution. By a strange coincidence, 174,000 is the same as the total number of full-time workers involved in coal, counting miners, power-plant workers, and people employed in transport. This is, quite literally, a tipping point, the moment when the falling number of coal workers meets the rising number of solar-energy workers. For fifty years, changes in mining technology have been reducing employment in coal. The number of miners fell by ten percent last year. Across the solar industry, employment rose by nearly 22 percent during that time, with a similar increase projected for the coming year, according to an employer survey by The Solar Foundation. The number of solar roofing installers has doubled since 2010.

In California alone, 1672 solar companies employ 47,000 workers, up 3,500 from last year. Century Roof and Solar is proud to be part of this growing, sustainable, and valuable industry.

Contact a Solar Company You Can Trust

Contact Bay Area solar company Century Roof and Solar today at (510) 780-9489 to learn more about how a sun-powered system can improve your life.