Solar is the bedrock of the energy transition and this week we take a temperature check of the industry’s progress around the world.

Solar On a Roll

Investments in solar reach a record $1.3 trillion across the world in 2022, good enough to push global solar production over 1 terawatt for the first time in history. The solar industry is growing at roughly 20% a year and at this pace, the world will generate 6 terawatts by 2031. 


But according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), that amount must more than quadruple to approximately $5 trillion annually to achieve the commitments made under the Paris climate agreement. 


IRENA pegs the total cost of electrifying everything with renewables at $35 trillion by 2030 for transition technologies, which include enhancing efficiency, electrification, grid expansion, and flexibility. That will mean renewable energy deployment needs to grow from the current annual capacity of approximately 3,000 gigawatts (GW) to over 10,000 GW by 2030.


Progress in solar expansion is strong but uneven. The world’s powerhouse economies are predictably in the lead, as China, the European Union, and the United States accounted for two-thirds of installed renewable capacity last year, while Africa only contributed 1%.

Fast, but not Fast Enough

A big part of expanding solar will come from tax credits like the ones introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act. But some of the biggest solar incentives in the bill are already struggling to balance ambition with geopolitical realities.

American solar manufacturers are unhappy that a 10% tax credit for “American-made” solar panels from the IRA will include panels made with polysilicon wafers made in China. China controls north of 95% of the global supply of the wafers that are a critical component in most solar configurations.

Then there’s the vexing problem of land use. In the United States, meeting Paris goals will require hundreds of thousands of square miles of solar farms. That’s a daunting number in any context, but even more so when you consider that the majority of macro-projects will need to go in rural areas where people are most opposed to renewables.

This week, the Nature Conservancy published a report modeling how the U.S. can reach its solar ambitions with about half as much land as the current trajectory (the Washington Post produced a great map visualizer of the plan).

Two major strategy shifts can help avoid future land conflicts with renewables: installing more solar over wind, and prioritizing abandoned land over productive fields.

Solar produces more power on less land than wind, which makes it more advantageous from a land-use point of view, even if wind produces more energy today than solar. Solar can still coexist with productive farmland, but it is most efficacious when installed among fruit trees and on cattle ranches.

Work in Solar

All that growth means more jobs in solar around the world! Here are some of the leading companies in everything from solar optimization software to installations currently hiring on Climatebase!

• Aurora Solar is a leading solar design and performance software provider on a mission to create a future of solar energy for all. They’re hiring for 23 remote roles in the United States

• zolar is a Berlin-based home solar configuring software hiring for 49 remote roles across Europe. zolar’s online platform allows homeowners to customize the components of their PV system to suit their individual requirements and receive personal assistance from a solar energy expert.

• Nexamp is a Boston-based company that offers solar solutions from project development, design and construction, through financing, operations and maintenance. They’re hiring for 83 roles across 12 states

On the installation side, Otovo is Europe’s leading marketplace for hundreds of local, high quality solar energy installers. Based in Oslo, they are hiring for 38 on-site jobs across Europe, from Lisbon to Vienna.

🌎 New Climate Jobs

Check out some of the latest featured jobs below. If you don't see anything that speaks to you, you can always go to Climatebase to explore thousands of other opportunities.

Jaro Fleet Technologies

"Our mission is to accelerate the widespread adoption of electric semi-trucks. Our Vision is to co-create the most effective, equitable, and socially-responsible organizational model for scaling clean energy technologies. ..."

• Operations Manager (Oakland, CA, USA)
• General Application (Oakland, CA)
• Business Development Lead (Oakland, CA)
• Hiring Manager (Oakland, CA)
• Thermal Management / Mechanical Engineer (Mid-Level and Above) (Oakland, CA)
• Firmware Engineer (Mid-Level and Above) (Oakland, CA)

SB Energy DevCo (US) Inc.

"SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son started SB Energy to deploy renewable energy at the scale required to combat climate change. Today, SB Energy is a leading Climate Infrastructure and Technology Platform headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and backed by SoftBank Group Corp and funds managed by the Infrastructure and Power strategy of Ares Management Corporation. SB Energy develops, ..."

• Sr. Manager/Director, Modules Procurement (Remote ( California, Arizona, Remote))
• Senior Manager, Risk & Insurance (Remote (Remote))
• Land & Development Analyst Intern (Remote (Remote))
• Energy Law Intern (Remote (San Francisco Bay Area, Ca, Remote))
• Director, Product Strategy (Remote (San Francisco, Ca, Remote ))
• Director, Market Commercialization and Trading Structure (Remote (Remote))
• Development Project Manager (East) (Remote (North Carolina, Virginia,, Remote))
• Development Project Manager (Remote (Remote))
• Talent Development Manager (Redwood City, California, United States)
• Project Development Intern (East Coast) (Charlotte, Nc, East Coast)
• Human Resources Intern (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)
• Development Associate Intern (West Coast) (San Diego, CA)
• Data Science Intern (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)
• Development Engineer (San Francisco Bay Area, Ca, Denver, Co)

Amber

"While interest in electric vehicles is at an all-time high, new EVs are still out of reach for most consumers, even with the support of government incentives in policies like the Inflation Reduction Act. High consumer demand and costs of battery materials continue to keep prices high and constrain available inventory. If new vehicles are so expensive, why not embrace used ..."

• Founding Software Engineer (San Francisco, CA, United States)
• Actuarial Product Analyst (San Francisco, CA, United States)

FUSE

"FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to engage communities, advance racial equity, and work more effectively for everyone. We believe, as communities adapt to constantly evolving challenges, that economic advancement and narrowing racial disparities is not only possible, but achievable. FUSE was founded in 2011 by a group of leaders from the public, private, ..."

• Community Resilience Consultant (San Leandro, CA, USA)

Climable, Inc.

"Climable is a small, women-run nonprofit located in the Boston area. We promote energy democracy and climate resilience, empowering people to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change in their communities. Climable works with environmental justice (EJ) communities, which are neighborhoods predominantly populated by people of color or people living below the poverty line who experience disproportionate impacts from environmental ..."

• Finance & Operations Manager (485 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA)

Anthropocene Institute

"A collective of scientists, engineers, communicators, marketers, thought leaders, and advocates — all pulling together toward a common goal: leverage technology, policy, and market mechanisms to address our global energy challenges and build a brighter future that is abundant for all. ..."

• Summer Outreach Intern (Remote (California, USA))

Crowdsourcing Sustainability

"Crowdsourcing Sustainability is a community that combines the collective energy, intelligence, and actions of people everywhere to crowdsource more sustainability into the world and build a safer, healthier, and more just planet. ..."

• Content Publishing & Social Media Manager (Remote)

Neoteric Climate & Energy

"Neoteric provides a platform for decarbonization partnerships, serving public, private sector and non-profit organizations as they jointly develop and implement solutions for the world’s hardest-to-abate sectors. From advanced clean energy deployment to scope 3 greenhouse gas accounting and claims, and everything in between, we design the solution, guide organizations through implementation, and provide stakeholder facilitation so that they stay aligned ..."

• Project Associate (Remote)
• Director of Initiatives (Remote)

Unravel Carbon Pte Ltd

"Unravel Carbon is an enterprise software that helps companies track and reduce their carbon emissions, focusing on Asia, based in Singapore. It is the first AI-powered decarbonization platform in Asia that converts any company’s accounting data into full supply chain carbon data in seconds, generates climate solutions automatically and auto-populates regulatory disclosure reports. We aim to accelerate the participation of all companies, ..."

• Product Designer (Singapore)
• Business Development Representative (Singapore)
• Senior Product Designer (Singapore)
• Sales Account Executive - Singapore (Singapore)

infiniRel Corporation

"infiniRel offers equipment health diagnostics for renewable energy plants to improve efficiency and profitability. Similar to an EKG for heart failure prediction, our high-resolution measurements create unique data offering unprecedented insight for improving output, optimizing maintenance, and extending the life of critical assets. Our patented technology offers prescriptive diagnostics to global renewable energy developers and asset owners, combining signal-processing, proprietary algorithms, ..."

• Power Electronics Engineer (HV)/Scientist (Remote (Chicago, IL, USA))

Sustain.Life

"Founded by entrepreneurs who want to help others put the planet first, Sustain.Life exists to help jumpstart the sustainability journey for other companies and businesses. Whether you’re just beginning your sustainability journey, consolidating employee-led sustainability efforts, or launching a new strategic initiative, Sustain.Life is your partner for every step of your sustainability journey. We provide the resources you need to do ..."

• Growth Marketing Specialist (Remote) (Remote (Remote))
• Manager of Accounting and Finance (Remote) (Remote (Remote))
• Head of Commercial Sales (Remote) (Remote (Remote))
• Backend Software Engineer (Remote) (Remote (Remote (Ireland, Uk)))

Impulse Labs

"We’re dedicated to building delightful, high-performance products for everyday needs that enable rewarding, long-term, scalable solutions for whole-home electrification. We're looking for individuals excited to ..."

• Full Stack Systems/Cloud Engineer (Remote)
• Hardware Engineer (System Electrical Engineering) (Remote (San Francisco))
• Hardware Engineer (Power Electronics) (Remote (San Francisco))
• Hardware Engineer (Battery Electrical Engineering) (Remote (San Francisco))

Solar Landscape

"Based in Asbury Park, Solar Landscape is a leading full-service provider of community solar and solar energy solutions for the commercial/industrial, municipal, public school and non-profit marketplaces. The company employs more than 130 people and has more than 200 megawatts of solar energy projects completed or under construction. The company owns and operates one of the largest portfolios of community solar ..."

• Project Engineer (2) (Asbury Park, NJ, USA)
• Director of Procurement and Supply Chain (Remote (Asbury Park, NJ, USA))
• Data Engineer (Remote (Asbury Park, NJ, USA))
• Director of FP&A (Asbury Park, NJ, USA)
• Director, Business Development (Remote (New Jersey, USA))

Terraformation

"We’re an early-stage startup that cares passionately about solving the climate crisis. We believe that forests are the most effective, safe, and scalable carbon drawdown solution. Our mission is to accelerate restoration of 3 billion acres of degraded lands to their native ecosystems, activating the most massive carbon drawdown effort on the planet. We help partners secure diverse native seed supply, tackle ..."

• Carbon Certification Specialist (Remote)
• Head of Carbon Strategy (Remote) (Remote)
• Senior Accounting Manager (Remote) (Remote)

Propagate

"Propagate is a software, development and financing ecosystem that makes it easy for farms to transition acreage to agroforestry. Our platform provides access to agronomic insights, technical assistance, and financing so that farms can reduce risk while integrating fruit, nut and timber trees with animal or crop farming systems. We are a Techstars-backed company, a portfolio company of Elemental Excelerator, ..."

• Sr. Marketing Manager (Remote)
• Opportunistic Hire (Remote)

Environmental Law Institute

"The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) makes law work for people, places, and the planet. ELI’s Vision is “a healthy environment, prosperous economies, and vibrant communities founded on the rule of law.” ELI’s Mission is to foster innovative, just, and practical law and policy solutions to enable leaders across borders and sectors to make environmental, economic, and social progress. ELI: Builds the skills and ..."

• Senior Attorney (Remote)
• Law Clerk (Fall 2023) (1730 M Street Northwest, Washington, DC, USA)
• Human Resources Director, People & Equity (Washington D.C., DC, USA)
• Director, Climate Judiciary Project (Washington D.C., DC, USA)

Carbon Direct

"Carbon Direct is decarbonizing the global economy. What is Carbon Direct? We are a team of scientists, engineers, and innovators with a shared goal of reducing atmospheric CO2 by scaling carbon management. What do we do? We operate two distinct businesses: - Advisory & Software : We work with Fortune 500 corporate clients like Microsoft, Shopify, and Alaska Airlines to develop long-term carbon management plans. ..."

• Research Associate (Remote (San Francisco, Seattle,, Remote))
• Customer Success Manager (Remote (San Francisco, Seattle,, Remote))
• Forest Scientist (Remote (San Francisco, Seattle,, Remote))
• Project Finance Principal (New York, San Francisco,, Seattle)
• Project Finance Associate (New York, San Francisco,, Seattle)
• General Application (Remote)

Elephant Energy

"We're building the SunRun for building electrification. We help customers upgrade their homes with the latest comfortable, energy-efficient technology: heat pumps, mini splits, EV chargers, induction ranges, etc.  ..."

• Field Sales Consultant (Boston, MA, USA)
• Field Sales Consultant (Denver, CO, USA)
• Project Manager (Boston, MA, USA)
• Home Comfort Advisor (Boston, MA, USA)
• Home Comfort Advisor (Denver, CO, USA)
• Operations Ninja / Project Manager (Boston, MA, USA)
• Operations Ninja / Project Manager (Denver, CO, USA)
• Area Sales Manager (Denver, CO, USA)
• Project Manager (Denver, CO, USA)

Headway Cooperative

"Headway Cooperative is the world's first climate tech co-op. We are 100% developer owned and operated, providing mission-driven software development for data-centric businesses solving climate change. Specializing in utility-scale energy and grid analytics, we partner with high-impact, high-growth companies like GridX that trust us to provide access to exceptional engineering talent and industry expertise.  ..."

• Data Engineer (Denver, CO, USA)

That's it for this week! Remember, you can always view thousands of more jobs on Climatebase.org.

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