U.S. solar jobs fell 7 per cent in 2020 on pandemic, efficiency gains

Jobs in the U.S. solar industry fell nearly 7 per cent last year due to work restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic and large gains in labor efficiency, according to an industry report published on Thursday.
The decline extends a volatile period for solar sector jobs, which have yet to return to a peak reached in 2016 before the United States imposed tariffs on foreign-made panels that increased prices.
Still, the solar sector is among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. energy industry, driven by demand from governments and businesses seeking to source cheap, emissions-free power to satisfy customer, taxpayer and investor demands to address climate change.