New Jobs in the Solar Industry

Before you read: some questions to help you think about the topic and the words you might need.

What do you know about renewable energy? How much is it growing?

What do you know about the solar industry?

One hundred years ago there were no jobs in the IT industry and 100 people were needed to work on a farm. These days you would see one or two people working on that same farm and a huge number of people working in the IT industry. So what could be a growth industry of the future? What is one of the growth engines of the future? Well in America one industry that is fighting to stop losing jobs is coal mining. Whilst a different industry that is in a growth phase is solar. States like California now employ more than 43,000 people and California is the headquarters to 1,700 solar companies. In America overall, solar energy employs 119,000 people. This is a growth of 13.2% in 2012.

Another interesting way to gain perspective is to compare these solar jobs to the number of jobs created by other parts or industry sectors of the economy. Looked at it this way, the Solar Foundation (using stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics) found that there were more solar energy workers in Texas than large size ranch farmers, and that there are more solar workers than actors in California, and that across the whole 50 states, there are more solar workers than coal miners.

Another interesting state is Arizona. Arizona has seen a huge spike in employment from 4,786 in 2011 to 9,800 this year. Many of these construction workers might not have been able to find employment in the tight labor markets in these two states, but solar construction building has taken up some of the slack. Most of these jobs are in installation such as installing solar panels on roofs. Certainly a job in the solar industry doesn’t pay as much as being a hedge fund manager, but at around $38,000 per annum it’s above the median wage of $34,750, and as the industry continues to get off the ground,  there's the real possibility that shortages of qualified workers will drive salaries up, as they did historically in other fast-growing industries.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning.

 The answers are below the table.

A=4, B=1, C=9, D=3, E=8, F=5, G=2, H=6, I-7

Some example sentences using the new words to help you to better understand their meaning.

1.      In the 1960's Korea's growth engines were cheap manufacturing, but in the 1990's it changed to the technology industry being the growth engine of the economy.

2.      Vietnam is in a big growth phase, it's economy is increasing by 10% each year.

3.      My parents perspective is that a woman must get married before she is 30.

4.      Creative people are able to look at things in different ways.

5.      Some years ago there was a hug spike in the price of oil as it increased to $150 per barrel.

6.      University graduates in the USA find it hard to find a job in USA because the USA has a tight labor market these days as there are few jobs.

7.      At midnight there are not enough taxis, but now there are many more new ones that are taking up the slack and can pick up passengers.

8.      We have been working hard to get our new business off the ground, once we get some new customers then we can start to grow.

9.      Not having enough qualified workers in the medical industry has driven salaries up.

Some discussion questions using the new words to help you better understand the word meaning and how to use them correctly. Try to use the words in your answer.

1.      What do you feel could be a growth engine of the future in your country? Why?

2.      Why is the solar power industry in a growth phase?

3.      Do you agree with the reading? Is there another way to look at the solar industry? For example, is there an opposite way of thinking or perspective about the solar industry?

4.      What do you think it means to get or gain another perspective about how much this industry has grown?

5.      What kinds of spikes can you see coming? For example do you think we have had a spike in housing prices or are we in a growth phase? (you could think about a time when house prices were increasing a lot if they are not now).

6.      Why do you think there has been a tight construction labor market in California?

7.      Do you feel that the solar industry will continue to take up some of the slack in the number of unemployed workers? Do you know of any other industries that might take up the slack in the future? Why?

8.      If the construction business in California suddenly gets off the ground, then how much do you think this could drive salaries up?