Clean Energy Industry Loses Over 100,000 Jobs in Q1

The Coronavirus pandemic has sent shockwaves throughout the world, both in terms of public health policy and economic impacts.

Since January of 2020, the renewable energy sector has lost more than 6% of its overall workforce. This number is expected to climb to 15% or more in the coming months unless the federal government takes action to stop the bleeding.

This is especially disruptive when we consider the fact that, since 2015, clean energy has been growing at a rate of more than 10% year-over-year. What has been a fruitful string of successful years has evolved into a serious situation that has put hundreds of solar power installation projects on hold until the fallout of this pandemic subsides.

The Worst-Case Scenario

At Urban Solar, we’re optimists.

We believe there is light at the end of the tunnel here, and we’re working as hard as we can to resuscitate our microcosm within the overall solar power industry.

Even still, if clean energy workers are not able to go to work doing the indispensable things they need to do in order to commission new solar power systems, we’re going to have to accommodate for the drop in available labor.

These are the steps we’re taking in preparation for what could be the worst-case scenario:

We are communicating with our customers. During these trying times, communication is of paramount importance. We want our customers to know that we are still here, still in business, and still doing all we can to assist them with their solar power needs.
We are watching our supply chains carefully. Knowing where we can turn to acquire the panels, wiring, conduit, inverters, and mounting systems we need will help us stick to installation schedules. While there may be delays with international shipments of overseas-sourced solar power equipment, we’re trying to keep these delays to a minimum.
We are instituting flexible workplace policies. Many Urban Solar team members who we would have wanted in our offices to do their work are now pivoting to remote work. Even though this may require some transitional discomfort, we’re finding that it’s manageable.
We are still providing energy assessments. For our new customers who would like to see exactly how much they could save by going solar, we’re still providing insightful energy assessments at no cost or obligation.

There’s a lot to be positive about in light of current events. Even if the clean energy industry does lose 15% or more of its workforce in the coming months, we feel prepared to be able to forge forward despite the trials we’re currently presented with.

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