Solar PV Employs More Women Than Other Renewable Energy Options

The clean energy mission  has not only brought hope towards making earth a better space to live but has also provided  millions of jobs, globally. Solar photovoltaic (PV) has emerged to be the leading employer in the renewable energy sector, both in global number of employees and in gender balance.

As per reports, the solar PV industry employs 4.3 million people—one-third of all renewable energy jobs globally. Women account for 40% of this number. It is more than the share of women employed in the wind industry (21%) and the oil and gas sector (22%). It is also higher than the average share of women employed in all renewable sectors, which is 32%.

Further, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report, women fare best in solar PV manufacturing, representing 47% of the workforce. Service providers and developers follow with 39% and 37%, respectively, while solar PV installers stand at 12%  of the segment’s workforce, performing the least.

Moreover, the number of women increasingly joining the solar energy sector as a source of well-paid employment with strong opportunities for career advancement is increasing. Solar photovoltaic technology is creating a high number of jobs due to the large workforce required for installation, sales, and operations and maintenance, providing large range of opportunities available for women. Many of the best regions for solar technologies, such as India and Africa, have particular needs for distribution and services related to solar energy products.

 The broad range of employment opportunities in this sector ranges from entrepreneurship and business development to installation and maintenance; sales and distribution; manufacturing, construction and operation of solar energy plants, research and development and software development.

In the solar PV sub-sector, women are more represented in administrative positions across all regions in the world. The statistics for women’s shares in administration and in all other roles is most prominent in companies in the Asia-Pacific region. The heavy representation of women in administration explains why the region fares better in comparisons of women’s overall participation in the solar PV workforce, says the report.

Most women in solar PV hold administrative jobs (58%), followed by non-STEM technical positions (38%). The survey says that women in STEM positions in solar PV are close to the global figure, at 32% of the total. Meanwhile, women account for 35% of other non-technical positions ( marketing, sales, distribution, product assembly or installation). While looking at women’s share of solar PV employment in other reguins,it is smaller in Europe and North America and in Latin America and the Caribbean than in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions, but the differences are not significant. Australia shows that 38% of its solar PV workforce are women while the United States reported  women’s share in the workforce of all solar technologies growing from 26% in 2019 to 30% in 2020.

You can get the full report here.