One of the fastest ways to lower solar soft costs is by having a well-trained workforce. That's why the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative is expanding its current support of the solar workforce through its Solar Training and Education for Professi...
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
May 17, 2016
minute read time
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's SunShot Initiative is helping the future workforce build careers in solar energy through its Solar Training and Education for Professionals program.
EERE’s SunShot Initiative is in the business of driving down costs. Although the price of solar energy system hardware, such as panels and inverters, has dropped significantly, the non-hardware or “soft costs” still make up 55% of the residential cost.
One of the fastest ways to lower soft costs is by having a well-trained workforce. This leads to improved inspection compliance, faster permitting processes, a drop in liability and insurance costs, and an increase in consumer confidence. That’s why SunShot is expanding its current support of the solar workforce through its Solar Training and Education for Professionals (STEP) program.
"We firmly believe the cost of solar can only go in one direction and that is down. What we want to see happen is that those costs go down as soon as possible and provide as many jobs as possible." – Lidija Sekaric, SunShot Director.
EERE’s SunShot Initiative aims to make solar energy cost competitive with traditional energy sources before the end of the decade.
Learn more about soft costs in our latest podcast from Direct Current!