Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians
Install or repair solar energy systems designed to collect, store, and circulate solar-heated water for residential, commercial or industrial use.
Most important skills
- Installation
- Reading Comprehension
- Quality Control Analysis
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Building and Construction
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Engineering and Technology
- Education and Training
- Design
- Public Safety and Security
What the work involves
- Design active direct or indirect, passive direct or indirect, or pool solar systems.
- Perform routine maintenance or repairs to restore solar thermal systems to baseline operating conditions.
- Apply operation or identification tags or labels to system components, as required.
- Assess collector sites to ensure structural integrity of potential mounting surfaces or the best orientation and tilt for solar collectors.
- Connect water heaters and storage tanks to power and water sources.
- Determine locations for installing solar subsystem components, including piping, water heaters, valves, and ancillary equipment.
- Fill water tanks and check tanks, pipes, and fittings for leaks.
- Identify plumbing, electrical, environmental, or safety hazards associated with solar thermal installations.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (43.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (29.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (39.5%)
- 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 Thermal Installers and Technicians is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 47-2152 (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 | Low | Lower on contact with others than 74% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 79% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 59% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 92% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 86% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 51% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 68% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 68% of occupations compared | 26% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- 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: 4.52%
- Contact with others about half the time: 32.14%
- Contact with others most of the time: 19.33%
- Constant contact with others: 44.02%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2015
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 1.77%
- Fairly important: 4.52%
- Important: 18.25%
- Very important: 24.54%
- Extremely important: 50.93%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2015
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 4.72%
- Important: 31.83%
- Very important: 6.13%
- Extremely important: 57.31%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2015
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 5.99%
- Some freedom: 17.08%
- A lot of freedom: 76.92%
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2015
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.38%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.59%
- Every day: 55.03%
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2015
Conflict situations
- Never: 4.4%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 33.06%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 46.6%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 5.18%
- Every day: 10.76%
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2015
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 17.36%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 30.55%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 39.11%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.97%
- Every day: 0%
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2015
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 4.6%
- Fairly serious: 24.33%
- Serious: 22.47%
- Very serious: 22.66%
- Extremely serious: 25.93%
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2015
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O*NET-SOC 47-2152.04 · SOC 47-2152 (detailed_parent, medium confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8