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Solar engineer vs electrical design engineer

The differences between solar engineers and electrical design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a solar engineer and an electrical design engineer. Additionally, an electrical design engineer has an average salary of $83,944, which is higher than the $77,229 average annual salary of a solar engineer.

The top three skills for a solar engineer include renewable energy, system design and solar pv. The most important skills for an electrical design engineer are electrical design, revit, and electrical systems.

Solar engineer vs electrical design engineer overview

Solar EngineerElectrical Design Engineer
Yearly salary$77,229$83,944
Hourly rate$37.13$40.36
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs40,95187,121
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age4545
Years of experience22

Solar engineer vs electrical design engineer salary

Solar engineers and electrical design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Solar EngineerElectrical Design Engineer
Average salary$77,229$83,944
Salary rangeBetween $53,000 And $111,000Between $63,000 And $110,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonWashington
Best paying companyWEC Energy GroupApple
Best paying industryUtilitiesTechnology

Differences between solar engineer and electrical design engineer education

There are a few differences between a solar engineer and an electrical design engineer in terms of educational background:

Solar EngineerElectrical Design Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeCornell UniversityMichigan Technological University

Solar engineer vs electrical design engineer demographics

Here are the differences between solar engineers' and electrical design engineers' demographics:

Solar EngineerElectrical Design Engineer
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 89.9% Female, 10.1%Male, 89.9% Female, 10.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 15.3% White, 63.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between solar engineer and electrical design engineer duties and responsibilities

Solar engineer example responsibilities.

  • Install and test PLC in client own equipment on site - solve some logical and hardware issues to accomplish goal
  • Test, debugging and operation.
  • Can draw in any state with many different AHJ requirements.
  • Have extensive knowledge if NEC solar codes along with PGE or utility codes.
  • Utilize Google Sketchup and Solidworks to create 3D model of PV system design.
  • Design, fabricate and debug PC board test fixtures for production PC boards.
  • Show more

Electrical design engineer example responsibilities.

  • Utilize LabView software package to automate testing.
  • Used Perl and Linux script to help automate the ASIC design and test flow.
  • Work with approval agencies to achieve UL, CSA, CE, FCC and IC certifications.
  • Coordinate with senior electrical engineers and achieve hands-on experience on coal fire plant power generation and power transformers, circuit breakers.
  • Perform RF checkout, aperture field probing and user sign-off of chambers and test equipment for various types of chambers.
  • Analyze and simulate low power circuits, front-end amplifiers and develop analog signal conditioning circuitry interfacing the digital control systems.
  • Show more

Solar engineer vs electrical design engineer skills

Common solar engineer skills
  • Renewable Energy, 41%
  • System Design, 9%
  • Solar PV, 8%
  • Solar Projects, 7%
  • Pvsyst, 7%
  • Solar Design, 4%
Common electrical design engineer skills
  • Electrical Design, 10%
  • Revit, 5%
  • Electrical Systems, 5%
  • CAD, 4%
  • Analog, 4%
  • Engineering Design, 4%

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