Solar Energy Installation Managers
Direct work crews installing residential or commercial solar photovoltaic or thermal systems.
Most important skills
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Time Management
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Building and Construction
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Design
- Mechanical
- Transportation
- Sales and Marketing
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Plan and coordinate installations of photovoltaic (PV) solar and solar thermal systems to ensure conformance to codes.
- Supervise solar installers, technicians, and subcontractors for solar installation projects to ensure compliance with safety standards.
- Assess potential solar installation sites to determine feasibility and design requirements.
- Assess system performance or functionality at the system, subsystem, and component levels.
- Coordinate or schedule building inspections for solar installation projects.
- Monitor work of contractors and subcontractors to ensure projects conform to plans, specifications, schedules, or budgets.
- Perform start-up of systems for testing or customer implementation.
- Provide technical assistance to installers, technicians, or other solar professionals in areas such as solar electric systems, solar thermal systems, electrical systems, or mechanical systems.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Enterprising, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (52.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (26.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (39.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Solar Energy Installation Managers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 47-1011 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 89% of occupations compared | 85% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 71% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 67% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 88% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 74% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 58% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 54% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 74% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 15.06%
- Constant contact with others: 84.94%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 4.57%
- Important: 35.72%
- Very important: 19.45%
- Extremely important: 40.25%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 19%
- Important: 5.32%
- Very important: 27.59%
- Extremely important: 48.09%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 4.54%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 25.42%
- A lot of freedom: 70.04%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.93%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 69.24%
- Every day: 23.83%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 11.78%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.75%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 44.9%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.71%
- Every day: 4.85%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 24.19%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 67.09%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.36%
- Every day: 0.36%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 6.23%
- Fairly serious: 17.6%
- Serious: 9.85%
- Very serious: 45.22%
- Extremely serious: 21.11%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 47-1011.03 · SOC 47-1011 (detailed_parent, medium confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8