A solar installer — BLS calls the occupation solar photovoltaic installer, SOC 47-2231 — assembles the racking, mounts the modules, connects the panels to the electrical system, and activates and tests the finished system.
The work runs from rooftop residential crews to utility-scale solar farms, it is mostly outdoors, and BLS projects 37% employment growth from 2025 to 2035, against 9% for electricians.
Solar installer duties on a residential crew
The job follows the array from a bare roof to a working system.
BLS lists the occupation's duties as planning PV system configurations based on customer needs and site conditions, assembling the support structures (the racking), installing the modules to code, connecting the panels to the electrical system, applying weather sealant, activating and testing the system, and performing maintenance.
On a residential crew that sequence runs: size up the site, build and anchor the racking, lift and set the modules, make the array's electrical connections, apply the weather sealant — and only then move to testing and commissioning.
O*NET, the federal occupational database, frames the same work around two core tasks: installing PV systems in accordance with codes and standards using drawings, schematics and instructions, and identifying the electrical, environmental and safety hazards associated with PV installations.
It also lists testing operating voltages to confirm that equipment such as inverters and controllers operates within acceptable limits.
The setting is mostly outside.
BLS notes that most solar panel installations are done outdoors, though installers sometimes work in attics and crawl spaces to connect panels to the electrical grid, and they travel between jobsites.
The tools are ordinary construction kit — drills, wrenches, saws and screwdrivers — with voltage testing as its own step.
BLS tracks the occupation as solar photovoltaic installer, SOC 47-2231.
When you search job postings, run the title under each variant too: solar installer, PV installer, solar panel installer and solar technician.
Residential vs commercial vs utility-scale solar
The skill set is one occupation, but the sites split three ways.
Residential work is rooftop work on homes.
Commercial projects mean bigger arrays on bigger buildings.
Utility-scale solar is the megawatt end of the industry — solar farms built at power-plant scale.
The employer mix BLS recorded in 2025 shows where the occupation actually sits: electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors employed 39% of solar photovoltaic installers, the largest share, followed by temporary help services (17%), utilities (13%), plumbing/HVAC contractors (11%) and power and communication line construction (10%).
BLS counted 31,100 jobs in the occupation in 2025.
The rhythm differs too: residential work is a stream of short jobs, roof after roof, while a bigger project can hold a crew on one site far longer.
The through-line is the duty sequence BLS lists for the occupation — assemble the structure, set the modules, make the connections, seal, then activate and test.
Installer vs solar electrician: who does the electrical work?
The clearest place to see the difference between the two roles is the grid connection.
BLS puts it directly: depending on the job and state laws, PV installers may connect the solar panels to the electrical grid, although electricians sometimes do this task — and some states require a license for PV installers.
So the same job title can cover different scopes in different states and on different crews.
Installers build the array — racking, modules, sealing — and the connection to the grid is either the installer's to make or an electrician's task, depending on the job and state law.
For electricians, the overlap with solar sits at the grid connection itself — the task BLS notes electricians sometimes take.
That overlap, and where each role's scope ends, is covered in solar work for electricians.
If you are new to the trade altogether, the guide to the electrician trade covers the electrician license ladder.
Licensing scope is a state question
NABCEP and the other credentials that matter
The board certifications for PV installation come from NABCEP, and they come in two useful stages.
The entry credential, PV Associate, is earned by exam — through an education pathway (a course with a registered provider) or an experience pathway of at least six months of full-time-equivalent PV work — and NABCEP says passing it qualifies a person to design, sell, install or maintain systems in a supervised capacity.
The advanced board certification, PV Installation Professional (PVIP), is experience-gated.
Every applicant must document OSHA 10 for Construction (or a government equivalent), at least 58 hours of advanced PV training, and installations totaling at least 6 project credits — a system between 1 and 999 kW counts as 2 credits, and a system of 1 MW or more counts as 3.
The installations must be ones the applicant performed in a decision-making role, such as lead installer, foreman or electrician, within the two calendar years before applying, and applicants must be at least 18.
Two things NABCEP certification is not: mandatory, and a license.
NABCEP describes board certification as voluntary and says it is not intended to replace state license requirements — it does not authorize anyone to do electrical work a state license requires.
People who hold it keep it current on a three-year cycle of continuing education and experience requirements, plus a recertification fee.
NABCEP also maintains a separate Energy Storage Installation Professional (ESIP) credential for battery energy storage work, with its own eligibility track: OSHA 30 for Construction, 58 hours of advanced energy-storage training and 6 project credits from projects in the last two calendar years — and current PVIP holders get 18 hours of credit toward the 58.
How to become a solar installer
Entry asks little formal schooling.
BLS says solar PV installers typically need a high school diploma, receive on-the-job training lasting up to 1 year, and that some take courses at a technical school or community college.
Finish high school
BLS lists a high school diploma as the education installers typically need. Technical school or community college courses are the optional add-on BLS notes for some installers.Get hired onto a crew and learn on the job
On-the-job training runs up to 1 year, per BLS. Construction experience — as an electrician, roofer, carpenter or laborer — may shorten a new installer's training time.Document projects once you lead installs
NABCEP's PVIP certification counts installed systems toward its 6 project credits — permitted, inspected systems of at least 1 kW DC, done in a decision-making role such as lead installer, foreman or electrician within the two calendar years before applying. Installs you work on outside a decision-making role don't count toward it.Decide whether the licensed side is your goal
If you want the grid-connection scope, find out who may do it in your state: depending on the job and state law, installers may make that connection, although electricians sometimes do it, and some states require a license for PV installers. On the installer track, NABCEP's PVIP is the advanced board certification to build toward.
Because some states require a license for PV installers, check the state licensing board's current requirement before you plan a career around a particular scope of work.
Is a solar installer a good career?
The case for a solar panel installer career starts with growth.
BLS projects employment of solar photovoltaic installers to grow 37% from 2025 to 2035, against 9% for electricians and 3% for all occupations — by a wide margin the steepest curve of the three.
The honest qualifier is the base.
The occupation held 31,100 jobs in 2025, against 821,000 for electricians, so a big percentage growth rate lands on a small occupation: 37% of this occupation is a far smaller absolute change than 9% of the electrician occupation.
Read the growth as direction, not as a headcount promise.
Pay is the second qualifier.
The occupation's median annual wage was $53,140 in May 2025, below the electrician median of $63,190 in the same release.
What the trade offers back is speed and a ladder: on-the-job training runs up to 1 year, and installations done in a decision-making role, such as lead installer, count toward NABCEP's experience-gated PVIP.
The work itself is the trade-off: BLS describes it as mostly outdoors, sometimes in attics and crawl spaces, with travel between jobsites.
Solar installer pay and jobs
BLS reports the median annual wage for solar photovoltaic installers (SOC 47-2231) was $53,140 in May 2025.
For comparison, the median for electricians (SOC 47-2111) — all license tiers together — was $63,190 in the same release.
The employer moves the number.
In OEWS May 2025 data, the 11,950 installers working for electrical contractors earned an annual median of $58,570, while the 4,000 installers at electric power generation, transmission and distribution firms earned an annual median of $51,460.
The state-by-state figures, the percentiles and the full table are on the solar installer salary page, and current openings are in solar installer jobs.
Career information, not licensing, legal or code advice. Where licensing touches this work, requirements are set by the states — confirm them with your state's licensing board.