Demand for solar installers grows 315% as profession tops ranks for best jobs in 2023

Solar has become increasingly economic in recent years, with surging power prices also driving domestic and industrial adoption, and therefore jobs market. Image: Greens MPs (Flickr).

Over the last three years there’s been a 315% increase in the demand for solar installers, according to new data from hiring platform Indeed.

The profession came out top of the site's rankings of the 20 best jobs in the UK for 2023, which included looking on demand for staff, workplace flexibility and salary.

It found that the average salary for a solar installer was £33,613, with 16% of them remote working and an average of 87 jobs/1 million of the population.

While this was the second lowest average salary of the roles to make it into the top 20, the significant increase in demand boosted the profession into the top spot.

“Indeed’s 2023 best jobs list clearly highlights trends within our society,” said Danny Stacy, senior manager, Talent Intelligence at Indeed.

“Solar Installers claiming the top spot for the best job in the UK reveals the increasing importance of sustainability, driven by the cost-of-living crisis and the climate emergency. Similarly, there has also been growth in demand for roles supporting healthcare and mental health, culture and inclusion in the workplace, likely catalysed by the pandemic.”

Beyond solar installers, there was a number of other roles within the sustainability sector that made it into the ranking. This includes sustainability consultants who have an average salary of £40,805, work remotely for 20% of the time and have an average of 137 jobs/1m, and environmental managers who have an average salary of £36,949 average salary, work remotely 15% of the time and saw an average of 419 jobs/1m.

With the push towards decarbonisation ramping up, the green jobs space is expected to expand substantially. The British Energy Security Strategy, unveiled in April 2022, detailed an aim of increasing the country’s solar capacity five-fold. This would create 10,000 jobs in the sector by 2028 – almost double its previous expectations.

Furthermore, the current energy crisis has served as a driver of domestic scale solar deployment in particular. Research from Solar Energy UK last year, found that domestic solar PV and storage could save a household £40,000 over its lifetime, a substantial boon amidst the high power prices being seen due to soaring gas prices.