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Despite a 27% rise in the number of jobs in 2023, slower solar power deployment and a challenged manufacturing sector could limit solar workforce growth in the EU to only 0.4%, according to SolarPower Europe’s latest annual report.
The EU Solar Jobs Report 2024 has revised last year’s projection that the European Union would reach one million solar jobs by 2025. It now expects the mark to be passed in 2027.
Solar employment in the EU has been steadily on the rise in the last few years, and the trend continued in 2023, when job creation increased by about a third, thanks to large project pipelines and strong product demand caused by the energy crisis, SolarPower Europe said.
At the end of last year, the sector employed 826,000 full-time equivalent workers (FTEs).
The increase was driven by sharp market growth, 50% year on year to 60.9 GW in new installations. As solar deployment constitutes the dominant share of the total, it was reflected in a 27% increase in EU solar jobs.
Compared to the previous years, the majority of jobs in the solar industry concentrated even more in the deployment phase, accounting for 715,000 FTEs or 87% of the total jobs, the report underlines.
The PV market is projected to grow by 5% in 2024
However, the tide has changed. In 2024 the photovoltaics market is projected to grow by 5%, reaching 63.9 GW, the association said. It would limit solar workforce growth to just 4,000, reaching 830,000, the document reads.
SolarPower Europe attributed the pause in workforce growth to a slowdown in installation activits as the impacts of the energy crisis are lessened and the rollout of solar is hampered by limited flexibility in the system.
At the upstream end of the value chain, European solar manufacturing has been facing significant challenges in the last 12 months, leading to production pauses and workforce reduction, the association added.
Hemetsberger: We urge the new EU leadership to do something
Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said solar could offer more than 1 million workers a meaningful, quality career in their local communities. “These job opportunities can’t be taken for granted. We urge the new EU leadership to improve regulatory conditions to add more solar, support EU solar manufacturers, and develop Europe’s strategy around solar skills,” she asserted.
Given the 104% growth in its solar market in 2023, Germany’s workforce in the sector surged to 154,000, becoming the largest in Europe.
Poland fell to second place with 113,000 as its job-intense residential market slowed. Spain was third. Its less job-intense utility-scale sector delivers more capacity with fewer workers, according to the EU Solar Jobs Report 2024.
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