Anyone who’s been paying attention to the news, particularly in the energy department, knows that the need for providing energy has always been a serious priority. It’s also well known that fossil fuels, specifically oil, are the main fuel used to drive much of the energy demand.
However, oil and fossil fuels in general may have some more competition soon, because the solar power industry has recently seen a huge boost in demand in the United States. Customers have begun to see how beneficial clean energy such as solar power has been, as well as how much money has been saved in its usage, meaning more companies will now begin to innovate this energy. According to a new report by the Solar Foundation, there was a twenty percent increase in the solar industry workforce, with this being the third straight year in which there was an increase, with over 35,000 new jobs being added towards the end of the 2015 year.
This rise of employment in the solar industry workforce actually shows that there are more Americans here than in the coal industry, most of them being in newer positions. This is also incredibly fitting given that it provides some new windows for many people who still find themselves out of employment. Even better is that the paying wages for some of these newer jobs is more than sufficient enough for many workers while also appealing to those who have skills needed in this industry.
President Barack Obama has also added some more interesting appeal by implementing a program called “Solar Ready Vets,” which is a program that lets military veterans be trained properly with the right skills and pay so that they can work in the solar power industry. However, as with any program there has been some opposition to it, and some big name energy companies like Koch Industries, for example, have gone out of their way and lobbied in statehouses to get local citizens to not chose solar energy as their choice for power.