Photovoltaics and jobs: The solar PV sector is the largest employer in the renewable energy industry

The 2025 edition of the Renewable Energy and Jobs report, released in early January 2026 (with 2024 data), brings the latest estimates for renewable energy jobs worldwide. The estimates are complemented by an analysis of progress in the industry and the public policy scenario, focusing on the need for inclusive policies for a truly successful energy transition. This edition of the report highlights the need to “expand training, job opportunities and career perspectives for population groups that are in danger of being left behind”, emphasizing that it is the workers, in a wide spectrum of occupations and skillsets, that will secure the success of the energy transition.

Solar photovoltaics accounted for over 43% of the renewable energy sector employment by technology. Biofuels accounted for 15.6%, hydropower for 13.8%, wind energy for 11.4%, solid biomass for 4.2%, solar heating and cooling for 3.6%, heat pumps for 2.4%, biogas for 1.8%, geothermal for 1.2%, and concentrated solar power (CSP) for 0.6%.

The annual growth in 2024 compared to 2023 was only nominal (2.5%), much smaller than the growth in any other year in the historical series since 2012, except for 2016. Even during the pandemics, job growth was larger (around 5%/year in the 2019-2021 period), having grown 14.2% from 2022 to 2023 and 18.2% from 2023 to 2024. This might be due to the industry hitting structural bottlenecks as it matures, rather than a lack of demand. Other reasons for the marginal growth in 2024 compared to 2023 include:

Grid Bottlenecks: A major and growing obstacle is that grid infrastructure in many countries (including the US, Brazil and Europe) is not growing fast enough to handle the surge in new renewable capacity. As a result, massive amounts of solar and wind projects are stuck in long queues waiting for connection. Curtailment is here to stay and overbuilding low-cost solar and wind should be put in the equation.

Intense Regional Concentration: The vast majority of global growth is concentrated in China. In 2024, China accounted for over 88% of the increase in Asia's renewable capacity. While this represents huge progress, it also reveals that global growth is heavily dependent on one market, and slower growth in other regions brings down the overall percentage increase.

Solar Manufacturing Oversupply: Global solar manufacturing capacity in 2024 more than doubled compared to 2023, causing an excessively abundant supply (manufacturing capacity utilization is currently below 50%). While this made solar modules incredibly cheap, it resulted in negative net margins for many manufacturers, forcing them to cancel or scale back new investment projects.

Lagging “Other” Renewables: While solar photovoltaics has surged, other renewable technologies like wind and geothermal are growing more slowly, and the growth of hydropower and biofuels in some regions has been inconsistent (negative growth in 2024 compared to 2023).

Permitting and Siting Delays: In addition to grid issues, lengthy permitting times and, in some countries, increased federal opposition and cancelling of projects have delayed new installations, particularly for wind power.