Type of Jobs Possible in Solar PV Sector
A variety of skilled workers across the solar project value chain are needed to achieve India’s targeted 100 GW of solar by 2022. Besides Solar PV industry has the potential to create a more number of unskilled jobs in the project areas ( rural) areas itself which has a huge implication on curbing migration , thereby reduced impact on the natural resources in the urban areas and reducing poverty.
The types of skilled jobs creation possible are as below :-
| Function | Key Skills | Qualification |
| Manufacturing | Research & Product Development | Diploma & Graduate Engineers |
| Business Development | Product & service marketing, bid processes, project finance,etc. | Graduates & Post Graduates in the related field |
| Design & Pre-construction | Plant design Engineering | Diploma & Graduate Engineers |
| Construction & Commissioning | Site engineering and electrical connections/ module connection | Diploma & Graduate Engineers |
| Operation & Maintenance | Performance data monitoring & regular maintenance of plant components | Diploma & Graduate Engineers
Also Technicians |
The types of un-skilled jobs creation possible are as below :-
| Function | Activities |
| Construction & Commissioning | Civil & mechanical works at the site |
| Operation & Maintenance | Module Cleaning, Vegetation Management & Housekeeping |
| Security Services | Guarding plants |
The following jobs are created under 3rd part specialized services :-
- Testing of plant components such as module degradation tests, thermography, IV curve analysis, transformer tests,etc.
- Root cause analysis and plant performance improvements
- Remote performance monitoring , service and asset management using Solar ERP kind of solution.
Another potential area of jobs creation is taking care of facility management activities such as module cleaning, vegetation management and housekeeping activities. This is mostly outsourced to the local contractors and they engage the unskilled workforce . In spite of being regular activities the number of jobs created are mostly not documented to avoid the payment of various social benefits such as ESI , PF payments,etc.
Analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) shows that the availability of appropriately skilled manpower has been identified as one of the most prominent challenges in hiring required personnel. Other key challenges include a shortage of marketing platforms to promote solar jobs, trainings and available technologies. Solar companies face challenges to overcome in hiring trained personnel and are currently relying primarily on in-house training to meet their needs. The poor quality of existing training programs is also a matter of concern for the solar employers in India.
So, the need of the hour is the quality training institutions creating rightly skilled workforce and then the marketing platforms to engage with all the stakeholders.
All these will not only help to operate the plants more efficiently but also help the developers and financiers to have better confidence to own the plants.
References: http://ceew.in/pdf/CEEW-NRDC-Filling-the-Solar-Skill-Gap-Report%2012Feb16.pdf
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