Solar technicians assemble, install, and maintain solar panel systems that provide solar power on rooftops or other structures. They take measurements to install each solar panel, cut panels to fit, perform tests, troubleshoot, and fix issues. They are also tasked with maintaining install solar panels as needed and meet with clients to discuss their needs for a solar energy system, explaining the installation and maintenance process, and following up with them to ensure that their system works properly.
Solar technicians earn an average salary of $52,000 annually or $25 per hour. They may install solar panels on homes or commercial buildings and parking rooftops. They must first identify the location and configuration of the panels and confirm the structural integrity of the building. They are able to read blueprints, schematics, and specifications and may need to confer with building inspectors occasionally.
Solar technicians typically hold a high school diploma or its equivalent and a valid driver's license. They are expected to have proven experience as a technician or a similar role. Some employers prefer candidates with excellent communication skills and the ability to interact effectively with co-workers, supervisors, and customers.
What is a Solar Technician?
What Does a Solar Technician Do
There are certain skills that many solar technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, detail oriented and mechanical skills.
How To Become a Solar Technician
If you're interested in becoming a solar technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 24.1% of solar technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.8% of solar technicians have master's degrees. Even though some solar technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Solar Technician Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of electrician you might progress to a role such as foreman eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title superintendent.
Average Salary for a Solar Technician
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Solar Technician
The role of a solar technician includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general solar technician responsibilities:
- + must be able to work the hours given. Be willing to listen
- Responsible for performing local plant and unit startup, monitoring,
- Attend daily correlation meetings reply promptly to emails
There are several types of solar technician, including:
Technician
Role:
To be a technician, you have to know your stuff. Some may refer to you as an expert in your field or maybe people will know you as skilled in an art or craft. Then again, you may just be needed to look after technical equipment.
Your workload as a technician will vary, depending on what you're trained in. You may be needed to set up a new computer system or maybe you'll need to fix an electricity problem. Either way, you'll probably only need to work 40 hours a week.
The degree of education required for this job depends on what you're specific skillset is. Some technicians only need a high school diploma, others may want to complete an associate's program or earn a certificate to help their employment opportunities. There's definitely something for everyone in the field of technicians.
- Average Salary: $38,045
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Service Technician
Role:
As a service technician, you'll be coming home with a lot of grease on your hands. Unless, of course, you wash your hands before leaving work. Guess where all that grease comes from. Vehicles! That's right, you'll be inspecting and repairing cars, left and right.
Generally, you'll be working in a well-ventilated, well-lit garage of some sort. You'll need to be familiar with automotive issues in a car's computer system, such as figuring out why the check engine light is on. And you'll probably need to know how to change a tire or change the oil. But we're not telling you how to do your job.
Instead of getting your training from us, you should complete a program from a postsecondary institution. Again, not telling you what to do but rather what employers like to see. Once you have the job, you may need to go a step further by becoming certified.
- Average Salary: $40,379
- Degree: Associate Degree
Solar Installer
Role:
Solar installers are responsible for installing solar panels on roofs and buildings. During their work, they take into consideration site-specific schematics and install solar and photovoltaic devices based on codes and standards defined by precise instructions.
As a solar installer, your job will be to measure and assemble solar modules and secure them to structural frames. Setting up the electrical circuits fed by solar energy will also be your task, as well as preparing faulty structures and performing maintenance work on the devices.
You will also be expected to identify any safety hazards related to the installed panels and make sure they are sufficiently sealed and correctly wired. You need specific training to do the job successfully and be aware of necessary safety measures while performing the tasks.
- Average Salary: $37,239
- Degree: High School Diploma
States With The Most Solar Technician Jobs
Number Of Solar Technician Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,982 | $46,104 |
| 2 | Florida | 1,742 | $28,844 |
| 3 | Texas | 1,532 | $34,031 |
| 4 | New York | 983 | $43,022 |
| 5 | Georgia | 906 | $32,447 |
| 6 | Illinois | 870 | $39,345 |
| 7 | Virginia | 717 | $43,589 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 702 | $41,016 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 696 | $40,501 |
| 10 | Iowa | 688 | $39,129 |
| 11 | New Jersey | 666 | $41,012 |
| 12 | Colorado | 616 | $39,408 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 608 | $46,879 |
| 14 | Arizona | 596 | $45,384 |
| 15 | Ohio | 591 | $40,350 |
| 16 | Michigan | 497 | $36,377 |
| 17 | Indiana | 485 | $34,934 |
| 18 | Minnesota | 471 | $44,365 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 457 | $32,671 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 430 | $41,160 |
| 21 | Washington | 426 | $47,393 |
| 22 | Connecticut | 405 | $46,526 |
| 23 | Missouri | 401 | $39,596 |
| 24 | Maryland | 389 | $42,228 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 358 | $37,246 |
| 26 | Alabama | 325 | $34,830 |
| 27 | Oregon | 289 | $41,432 |
| 28 | Utah | 253 | $42,762 |
| 29 | Nebraska | 250 | $40,490 |
| 30 | Kentucky | 210 | $38,027 |
| 31 | Louisiana | 202 | $38,069 |
| 32 | Oklahoma | 200 | $33,089 |
| 33 | Arkansas | 192 | $32,762 |
| 34 | Maine | 182 | $36,953 |
| 35 | Nevada | 164 | $45,745 |
| 36 | Kansas | 156 | $38,062 |
| 37 | New Hampshire | 141 | $44,712 |
| 38 | Mississippi | 140 | $38,770 |
| 39 | West Virginia | 128 | $39,797 |
| 40 | Delaware | 120 | $45,619 |
| 41 | South Dakota | 98 | $40,330 |
| 42 | Alaska | 95 | $47,725 |
| 43 | New Mexico | 93 | $35,272 |
| 44 | Vermont | 85 | $45,357 |
| 45 | Montana | 81 | $42,263 |
| 46 | Idaho | 72 | $38,436 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 70 | $46,022 |
| 48 | Hawaii | 58 | $46,047 |
| 49 | North Dakota | 48 | $43,379 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 39 | $43,655 |
Top Skills For a Solar Technician
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.1% of solar technicians listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and detail oriented are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Solar Technician Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Solar Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Solar Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Solar Technician diversity
Solar Technician Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among solar technicians, 5.2% of them are women, while 94.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among solar technicians is Hispanic or Latino, which makes up 36.3% of all solar technicians.
- The most common foreign language among solar technicians is Spanish at 68.4%.
Online Courses For Solar Technician That You May Like
1. Solar Energy Basics
This course gives you an introduction to the fundamentals of solar power as it applies to solar panel system installations. You will learn to compare solar energy to other energy resources and explain how solar panels, or photovoltaics (PV for short), convert sunlight to electricity. You will be able to identify the key components needed in a basic photovoltaic (solar panel) system, such as is found on a house or building, and explain the function of each component in the system. You will also...
2. Solar Energy System Design
Solar Energy System Design builds upon the introduction to PV systems from Solar Energy Basics course, which included basic system components and functions, as well as some basic system sizing using simplifying assumptions. You should at this point have a basic understanding of electrical power and energy, be able to calculate the energy needs of a site as well as energy production potential for a PV system at a given location under optimal conditions. Much of this course will focus on...
3. The Complete 2022 PV Solar Energy PVsyst, Excel & AutoCAD
Your solar Energy guide to design any Grid-tie & Off-grid Photovoltaic Solar Energy with software, layouts & manuals...
How Do Solar Technicians Rate Their Jobs?
Top Solar Technician Employers
Most Common Employers For Solar Technician
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yoh | $48,213 | $23.18 | 3 |
| 2 | Vivint Solar | $45,850 | $22.04 | 9 |
| 3 | NRG Energy | $45,657 | $21.95 | 4 |
| 4 | First Solar | $43,618 | $20.97 | 4 |
| 5 | Trinity Solar | $43,239 | $20.79 | 6 |
| 6 | Sun Solar | $43,118 | $20.73 | 4 |
| 7 | Blattner Energy | $41,925 | $20.16 | 2 |
| 8 | Solar.com | $41,649 | $20.02 | 9 |
| 9 | Power International Holding | $40,251 | $19.35 | 2 |
| 10 | CLP Resources | $40,226 | $19.34 | 5 |
Solar Technician Videos
