Employment

A group of senators and representatives from Washington and Montana led by the top democrat on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee are calling on President Trump to negotiate with China and save REC’s Moses Lake facility.

The report found over 3,200 employees working at the factory at the end of 2017, and $3.7 billion in invested in the plant.

Trade lawyer and former VP John Smirnow will rejoin the trade group. SEIA has also hired Tony Chen, formerly of SolarCity and Cool Earth Solar.

The Illinois Power Agency has added more administrative components to its website, while job training continues and hiring picks up.

The nation’s largest residential solar company has announced that it pays its female employees the same as its male employees for similar jobs in similar locations. But regardless of this achievement, the larger industry still has a long way to go.

In this op-ed for pv magazine, GRID Alternatives’ Erica Mackie argues that a recent high-profile racial harassment suit is indicative of larger problems, and that the solar industry is not immune to the structural racism within American society.

In this op-ed for pv magazine, The Solar Foundation’s Chris Walker explores issues of aligning solar training programs with workforce needs.

The PV Design, PV Installer and PV Commissioning and Maintenance Specialist certifications will be available at over 500 U.S. testing sites.

Adding solar and wind would yield 1600 direct job-years per gigawatt in construction, 1200 direct job-years per gigawatt in O&M, and many more indirect and induced job-years.

The company will return to selling solar primarily through its stores and online.