How To Become A Solar Consultant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a solar consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. John Hansen

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a solar consultant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.38 an hour? That's $69,420 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 63,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a solar consultant?

Dr. John Hansen

Professor and Director, Center for Sales Leadership, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Regarding the third question, the only real way to maximize your salary in sales is to perform well against the success metrics in place in your role. Sales is, for the most part, an outcome-based profession, meaning that pay increases (or decreases) based on outcomes attained. Whatever the success metrics are in the position one is currently in, they will maximize their income to the extent that they perform well in relation to these success metrics.

ScoreSolar ConsultantUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $69,420

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.15%

Black or African American 3.84%

Hispanic or Latino 14.26%

Unknown 3.71%

White 72.80%

Gender

female 14.78%

male 85.22%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a solar consultant

Explore solar consultant education requirements

Most common solar consultant degrees

Bachelor's

59.8 %

Associate

18.7 %

High School Diploma

9.5 %

Start to develop specific solar consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
Renewable Energy	25.26%
In-Home	18.75%
Solar Power	10.84%
Door Sales	6.87%
Salesforce CRM	4.29%

Complete relevant solar consultant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New solar consultants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a solar consultant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real solar consultant resumes.

Research solar consultant duties and responsibilities

Achieve monthly sales goals through new business and upselling current clients.
Identify new sales opportunities within existing accounts to remain a client-account manager relationship by up-selling and cross-selling.
Use regional solar radiation or insolation data provide by NASA and accurately calculate system output in either Btu's or kWh.

Prepare your solar consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your solar consultant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a solar consultant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable solar consultant resume templates

Build a professional solar consultant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your solar consultant resume.

Apply for solar consultant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a solar consultant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do solar consultants rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Solar consultant reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Cons

It needs more patience to apply the true solution and satisfy your client

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

I love to engage the public and meet new faces. I enjoy explaining all of the benefits of the product I am selling, and making the customer feel important and well informed.