Canadian solar industry jobs to double over three years
If you’re looking for an up-to-date breakdown of the solar industry in Canada and the jobs that are expected to be created in the coming years, check out this labour survey by Kelly Sears Consulting Group, which was commissioned by the Canadian Solar Industries Association and Canada’s Electricity Sector Council.
Key findings:
- Doubling of jobs by 2011.
- Industry shortage of installers right now.
- By 2011 there will also be a shortage of system designers, project managers and engineers.
- Recommendation to increase training and relevant curricula.
My guess is that most of these shortages and job opportunities will be created in Ontario, given the province’s Green Energy Act and progressive feed-in tariff program.
Tags: solar jobs, solar PV, solar thermal
Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the cleantech market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca
April 1st, 2009 at 6:37 pm
[...] Hamilton just noted on his blog a labour survey predicting a doubling of solar jobs in Ontario. Good news, link to the survey in [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:40 pm
By 2011? lets hope if they do it right, it will be late 2009.
April 7th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Hi Tyler
Great Blog, good news about jobs in Canada!
Bob
April 12th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
The Feed In Tariffs to be introduced by Ontario; they should lead to a spurt in growth of the solar power industry.
However, many people don,t understand Feed In Tariffs and what they mean for the solar economy. They are explained in the website http//wecanadians.com.
My feeling is that the tariffs are too generous right now. For rooftop solar, they are priced at 80 cents/KWH, at least ten times the going rate for supply of electric power to homes. If I meet 5% of my electricity needs with a rooftop solar panel, this means I can reduce my electricity bill by 50%.
Pretty amazing.
September 4th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I get frustrated when i read the words” There is currently a shortage of installers” i have been searching for months for companies that will hire an installer whether it be for solar thermal or solar photovoltaic installers. i need a job now and want one in the solar industry