Post job

Solar engineer vs field engineer

The differences between solar engineers and field 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 a field engineer. Additionally, a solar engineer has an average salary of $77,229, which is higher than the $71,874 average annual salary of a field engineer.

The top three skills for a solar engineer include renewable energy, system design and solar pv. The most important skills for a field engineer are customer service, customer satisfaction, and project management.

Solar engineer vs field engineer overview

Solar EngineerField Engineer
Yearly salary$77,229$71,874
Hourly rate$37.13$34.55
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs40,95186,015
Job satisfaction-3
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4545
Years of experience22

Solar engineer vs field engineer salary

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

Solar EngineerField Engineer
Average salary$77,229$71,874
Salary rangeBetween $53,000 And $111,000Between $51,000 And $99,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonWashington
Best paying companyWEC Energy GroupMeta
Best paying industryUtilitiesEnergy

Differences between solar engineer and field engineer education

There are a few differences between a solar engineer and a field engineer in terms of educational background:

Solar EngineerField Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeCornell UniversityMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Solar engineer vs field engineer demographics

Here are the differences between solar engineers' and field engineers' demographics:

Solar EngineerField Engineer
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 89.9% Female, 10.1%Male, 92.7% Female, 7.3%
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, 11.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 64.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between solar engineer and field 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

Field engineer example responsibilities.

  • Promote from original position as a staff engineer managing a variety of geotechnical engineering activities to a field engineer inspector position.
  • Assign IP addresses to the correct users.
  • Install VMware servers and configure to customer needs.
  • Recommend improvements to HSE tools, processes, and policies.
  • Operate, troubleshoot and maintain million-dollar MX-20HD camera surveillance systems.
  • Install boards and drives, as well as windows operating system.
  • Show more

Solar engineer vs field engineer skills

Common solar engineer skills
  • Renewable Energy, 41%
  • System Design, 9%
  • Solar PV, 8%
  • Solar Projects, 7%
  • Pvsyst, 7%
  • Solar Design, 4%
Common field engineer skills
  • Customer Service, 9%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 8%
  • Project Management, 6%
  • Azure, 6%
  • Technical Support, 5%
  • Test Equipment, 4%

Browse architecture and engineering jobs