Solar Energy Installation Managers
Architecture and ConstructionO*NET 47-1011.03United States
Direct work crews installing residential or commercial solar photovoltaic or thermal systems.
- Median annual earnings
- $76,838
- Projected change
- +7%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 900.56K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
71.6% of the workforce
Growing to 963.81K by 2035
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The work
What solar energy installation managers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Plan and coordinate installations of photovoltaic (PV) solar and solar thermal systems to ensure conformance to codes.
- Supervise solar installers, technicians, and subcontractors for solar installation projects to ensure compliance with safety standards.
- Estimate materials, equipment, and personnel needed for residential or commercial solar installation projects.
- Prepare solar installation project proposals, quotes, budgets, or schedules.
- Provide technical assistance to installers, technicians, or other solar professionals in areas such as solar electric systems, solar thermal systems, electrical systems, or mechanical systems.
- Coordinate or schedule building inspections for solar installation projects.
- Perform start-up of systems for testing or customer implementation.
- Assess system performance or functionality at the system, subsystem, and component levels.
- Identify means to reduce costs, minimize risks, or increase efficiency of solar installation projects.
- Assess potential solar installation sites to determine feasibility and design requirements.
- Monitor work of contractors and subcontractors to ensure projects conform to plans, specifications, schedules, or budgets.
- Visit customer sites to determine solar system needs, requirements, or specifications.
- Purchase or rent equipment for solar energy system installation.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $49,992
- 25th percentile
- $60,289
- 50th percentile
- $76,838
- 75th percentile
- $99,194
- 90th percentile
- $129,012
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $76,838 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+7%faster than average
2025900,559 jobs
2035 projected963,807 jobs
63,248 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 71.6%
- Some college
- 10%
- Associate degree
- 9.4%
- Bachelor's degree
- 6.3%
- Certificate
- 2.7%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Solar Energy Managers14 postings
- 02Energy and Sustainability Managers5 postings
- 03Engineering Project Specialists3 postings
- 04Solar Energy Systems Engineers3 postings
- 05Renewable Energy Managers2 postings
- 06Energy Efficiency Engineers1 postings
- 07Energy Project Managers1 postings
- 08Infrastructure Project Managers1 postings
- 09Renewable Energy Engineers1 postings
- 10Residential Project Managers1 postings
Top employers
- 01CBRE5 postings
- 02Alphahire3 postings
- 03Ans3 postings
- 04Duke Energy3 postings
- 05National Solar Technologies3 postings
- 06Humanitas Holdings2 postings
- 07Kimley-Horn2 postings
- 08The Recruiting Group2 postings
- 09Delta Construction Partners1 postings
- 10Electrum-1 postings
- 11Facility Innovations Group1 postings
- 12National Energy Control Corp1 postings
- 13Primoris Service Corporation1 postings
- 14Xero Solar1 postings
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