Rooftops, racking and wiring. The fastest trade on this site to get into, and the one most tied to policy.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
The median pay is about $53,140 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $41,600 at the lower end to about $79,970 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
Up to 1 year, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
From nothing up to about $5,500, depending on the route, for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no license to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Very high demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$53,140
Bottom tenth
$41,600
Top tenth
$79,970
The national median is $53,140 a year. The bottom tenth earn $41,600 or less and the top tenth $79,970 or more (2025 federal wage survey). This is the wage survey's figure for solar photovoltaic installers specifically.
$41,600 to $46,700
What the bottom tenth to bottom quarter of solar installers earn, 2025
Training for this job runs from a few days to about a year of on-the-job instruction. That speed is the attraction. The trade-off is a lower ceiling: the top tenth of solar installers earn $79,970 or more, against $108,510 for electricians.
$63,190 median
Electricians, against $53,140 for solar installers, 2025
The wiring side of a solar system is electrical work, and in most states a licensed electrician has to do or sign off on it. Installers who complete an electrical apprenticeship alongside solar work move onto the electricians' pay scale.
Roughly, all in
Nothing to $5,500
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Many companies hire with no experience and train you on the roof, so the low end is genuinely nothing. The high end is a short community college solar certificate at in-district rates, roughly $1,500 to $5,000, plus the entry photovoltaic credential at $25 to apply and $125 to sit, and later the installation professional credential at $125 plus a $375 exam. Almost nobody takes on debt for this work. If you do choose a college program, file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) so a grant covers it instead of your savings.
There is almost no debt risk here. If you do take a college program, file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) so a grant covers it rather than your own cash.
Hourly, with overtime
Long summer days on roofs, shorter winter weeks in cold states.
Crew position matters
You move up from ground crew to roof installer to lead installer to crew foreman.
Travel work
Large ground-mounted solar farms are built far from cities and pay travel and per diem allowances.
Policy risk
Demand in this trade moves with tax credits, utility rules and state programs. The 30% federal tax credit for home solar ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
One of the shortest routes to a full wage on this site, and the reason a lot of people use it as a first job in construction.
High school diploma or equivalent
Grade 12
A diploma or a GED (high school equivalency credential) is enough for most companies. Basic math and comfort with tools matter more than grades.
Get on a crew
Weeks
Residential installers hire year round in sunny states. You start carrying panels and learning racking before you touch wiring.
Learn the system
A few months to a year
Racking, mounting, flashing a roof so it does not leak, running conduit, connecting inverters, and the safety rules for working at height.
Certify
Year 1 to year 3
The associate-level photovoltaic credential is the normal first step, then the installation professional certification once you have documented experience.
Lead, or go electrical
2 to 6 years
Run a crew, move to commercial and utility projects, or start an electrical apprenticeship and come back with a license.
Math
Layout, spacing, angles and load calculations on a roof.
Physics
Electricity, and why a panel at the wrong angle produces much less power.
Shop or construction technology
Tools, fasteners and reading a drawing. Directly useful from week one.
Spanish or another second language
Crews in much of the country are multilingual, and a foreman who can communicate with everyone is valuable.
An installer who lifts, places and bolts down panels usually needs no license of their own. Connecticut licenses solar workers but exempts that work when done for a licensed solar contractor. What states do license is the electrical and contracting work: the wiring usually has to be done or signed off by a licensed electrician, and the company needs a contractor license. Your own credentials are the voluntary certifications from NABCEP (the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners), fall protection and safety training under OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and whatever your employer requires.
On the job
The most common route by far. Installers hire and train, and you are paid from the start.
Community college programs
Short certificates in photovoltaic installation, often designed with local installers.
Registered apprenticeships
Clean energy apprenticeships registered with the federal apprenticeship office combine paid work with classroom instruction.
Electrical apprenticeship
The longer and better-paid version: become an electrician, then specialize in solar.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Photovoltaic associate
The entry certification from NABCEP (the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners). $25 to apply and $125 for the exam.
Photovoltaic installation professional
The board certification that carries real weight with employers and some rebate programs. $125 to apply and $375 for the exam.
Battery storage
Home batteries are now sold with most systems, and the crews who can install and commission them are ahead of demand.
Electrical license
Moves you onto the electricians' pay scale, which has a higher median and top tenth.
No fear of heights
Most residential work happens on a pitched roof. Find out how you feel about that before you commit.
A driver's license and a clean record
Crews drive to several homes a day.
Roofing knowledge
Every mount is a hole in someone's roof. Installers who understand flashing cause far fewer callbacks.
Heat tolerance
Solar work peaks in summer, on dark roofs, in the sunniest states in the country.
Residential crews do one or two houses a day, drive a lot and work on pitched roofs. Commercial crews spend weeks on one flat roof over a warehouse or a school, with bigger equipment and steadier schedules. Utility-scale crews build fields of thousands of panels, often far from any town, with travel pay and long rotations. The skills overlap enough to move between them, and people often do: residential to learn, then commercial or utility work.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Load the truck at the yard around 6:30am, drive to the first house. Set ladders and fall protection, find the rafters, mount and flash the rails, then carry panels up and bolt them down. Someone runs conduit and lands the wiring at the inverter and the panel. Clean up, get the homeowner to sign, drive to the next job. Hot roofs in summer, early starts, and a real sense of having finished something by the end of the day.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
For years, homeowners got back 30% of the cost of a solar system as a federal tax credit. The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) says it is not available for any system installed after December 31, 2025, so home sales now stand on the electricity bill and state programs.
The federal survey counts only about 31,100 solar photovoltaic installers (2025). It still projects growth of 7% or more to 2035, with about 4,200 openings a year.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Electrical and energy first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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