Solar Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Solar Engineer designs and develops technologies that produce and store energy from solar power.
Job Outlook
There were 62 Solar Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 1837 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Solar Engineer industry, which includes the Solar Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Solar Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $101,149.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $101,149.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Solar Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $79,756.
Education and Experience
Posted Solar Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 81.76% |
| Master's Degree | 20.36% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2.45% |
| Other | 7.08% |
Posted Solar Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 33.85% |
| 3 to 5 years | 38.91% |
| 6 to 8 years | 17.19% |
| 9+ years | 10.04% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Solar Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (58.57%)
- Management (33.32%)
- Operations (32.77%)
- Problem Solving (24.06%)
- Customer Service (23.73%)
- Microsoft Office (23.46%)
- Detail Oriented (23.41%)
- Quality Control (22.54%)
- Coordinating (21.28%)
- Planning (20.58%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Solar Engineering (11.5%)
- Solar Photovoltaic Design (7.18%)
- Solar Design (11.72%)
- PVsyst (20.36%)
- Electrical Engineering (46.83%)
- AutoCAD (34.32%)
- Virtual Network Computing (6.39%)
- Cable Sizing (12.56%)
- Project Management (47.34%)
- Passive Solar Building Design (10.43%)
- Subcontracting (27.43%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Construction Monitoring (6.79%)
- Bill Of Materials (11.55%)
- Mechanical Design (8.36%)
- Medium Voltage (10.99%)
- AutoCAD Civil 3D (4.26%)
- Project Schedules (15.14%)
- Project Engineering (9.98%)
- SKM (Power System Software) (14.25%)
- Equipment Selection (10.04%)
- Arc Flash (10.15%)
- Electricity (6.56%)
- Procurement (12.73%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (16.83%)
- Relays (9.93%)
- ETAP (16.32%)
- Field Service Management (3.08%)
- Distributed Generation (7.01%)
- Electrical Systems (5.66%)
- Financial Modeling (5.16%)
- Renewable Energy (14.19%)
- National Electrical Codes (14.92%)
- Switchgear (9.59%)
- Asset Management (7.07%)
- Construction (38.47%)
- Market Research (4.26%)
- Project Finance (4.04%)
- Civil Engineering (8.36%)
- Project Management Life Cycle (11.22%)
- Proposal Writing (4.94%)
- Resource Planning (10.88%)
- Business Development (17.16%)
- Safety Standards (4.66%)
- Transformers (Electrical) (10.99%)
- Solar Energy (6.45%)
- Construction Management (13.74%)
- Submittals (Construction) (11.16%)
- Short Circuits (13.57%)
- Constructability (9.48%)
- Systems Design (22.04%)
- Fiber Optic Cable (7.8%)
- Network Switches (8.08%)
- Engineering Design Process (15.2%)
- Electrical Equipment (10.88%)
- International Building Codes (7.74%)
- Engineering Calculations (12.79%)
- Load Flow Analysis (9.87%)
- Low Voltage (9.2%)
- Financial Close (3.48%)
- Mechanical Engineering (14.64%)
- One-Line Diagram (12.23%)
- Roofing (7.63%)
- Site Maps (6.45%)
- Commissioning (13.85%)
- Process Improvement (10.99%)
- Value Engineering (9.48%)
- Energy Production (12.11%)
- Industry Standards (6.9%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Solar Application (2.3%)
- Helioscope (Software) (5.16%)
- Photovoltaic Systems (6.28%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Solar Photovoltaic Design (20.13%)
- PVsyst (57.08%)
- Solar Design (32.86%)
- Helioscope (Software) (14.47%)
- Passive Solar Building Design (29.25%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Solar Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Multifamily Project Manager
- Lead Electrical Design Engineer
- Electrical Engineer
- Solar Design Engineer
- Project Engineer/Superintendent
- Field Engineer
- PV Designer
- Solar Designer
- Solar Pv Installer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Electrical Design Manager
- Electrical Engineer (General)
- Renewable Energy Engineer
- Electrical Engineering Manager
- Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer
- Electrical Project Engineer
- Engineering Project Manager
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Solar Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Black & Veatch (205)
- Sunrun (155)
- DNV (84)
- NextEra Energy (60)
- Iea Management Services (49)
- First Solar (45)
- Kimley-Horn (28)
- Pure Power Engineering (27)
- Barr Engineering Co. (26)
- Jacobs Solutions (26)
North Carolina
- Black & Veatch (19)
- Rise Technical Recruitment Ltd (7)
- Jobot (5)
- Burns & McDonnell (4)
- Depcom Power (3)
- Sunrun (3)
- TE Connectivity (2)
- DNV (2)
- Kimley-Horn (2)
- Strata Solar (2)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Electrical Engineering Master's Degrees
- Renewable Energy Assessment and Development Graduate Certificates
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.