Solar jobs in Australia cross 10,000-mark in January

The Australian solar industry in January supported more than 10,000 full-time jobs through the construction of large-scale solar parks and rooftop solar arrays.

Last month alone, the country saw the addition of 16,042 rooftop photovoltaic (PV) plants, which created 5,337 full-time jobs in installation, design and sales, according to the monthly edition of Australia’s renewable energy index, compiled by research and advisory firm Green Energy Markets.

In addition, 5,456 people are provided with full-time employment for a year thanks to the 2,273 MW of large-scale solar parks currently being built across the country.

In terms of overall employment activity in the renewables segment, the report shows that Australia had 79 large-scale renewable power plants under construction at the end of last month, expected to create employment for 17,215 people. Queensland provided the highest number of renewables employment with 6,421 construction jobs. Victoria took the second place in the ranking by state with 4,984 jobs, while New South Wales came third with 3,579 construction jobs.

At the end of January, Australia had 4,960 MW of renewable plants under construction, of which 2,661 MW wind and 2,273 MW solar. Of the total, 2,116 MW are in Queensland and 1,286 MW in Victoria.

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