While the solar industry, as a whole, lost jobs between 2016 and 2017, Colorado saw growth in solar energy jobs.
According to Greentech Media, the solar industry lost 9,800 jobs between 2016 and 2017 – the first drop recorded since the National Jobs Census began collecting data in 2010.
But that wasn’t the case in Colorado. As Colorado Public Radio reports, jobs in solar energy increased by 13 percent last year and the state currently ranks ninth nationally for solar jobs – growth fueled by the state’s renewable portfolio standard and new products like community solar.
But 2018’s forecast isn’t quite so sunny. With President Trump’s recent decision to increase tariffs on solar panel imports, the Solar Energy Industries Association anticipates that nationwide, there will be another 23,000 jobs lost in 2018.
But Colorado has several factors working in its favor, including Gov. John Hickenlooper’s plan to reduce greenhouse gases and Xcel Energy’s plan to boost renewable energy to 55 percent over the next eight years.