“This report shows that the solar industry is putting people to work to meet a growing percentage of our energy needs,” said Christian Adams, State Associate with Environment Ohio, a Columbus-based advocate for renewable energy.
In 2013, Adams said, Cincinnati City Council passed a unanimous resolution to create a goal of putting solar on one in five rooftops by 2028 and develop new financing programs to encourage residential rooftop and commercial solar markets. “Other cities across Ohio should follow the Queen City’s lead and grow Ohio’s homegrown solar energy market,” Adams said.
The Solar Foundation’s annual National Solar Jobs Census said the U.S. solar industry employed 142,698 in 2013. That figure includes the addition of 23,682 jobs over the previous year, or 19.9 percent more than in September 2012.
The Foundation said that solar employment grew 10 times faster than the national average employment growth rate of 1.9 percent in the same period.
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