Solar Energy Installation Managers

Low Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (1)

Lower estimated automation risk

Construction Managers
11% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better Higher growth
9.6 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Installation management, site coordination, budgets, schedules, and subcontractor oversight transfer well.

Alternative careers

Related career paths that build on similar skills and experience

Electricians
27% automation risk | Low Risk
Higher growth
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Why it fits

PV installation experience overlaps electrical systems and code work, but licensing or apprenticeship may be needed.

First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers
21% automation risk | Low Risk
Similar risk View career
Why it fits

Installer supervision, safety, field troubleshooting, and service coordination transfer beyond solar crews.

First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers
24% automation risk | Low Risk
View career
Why it fits

Solar crew leadership maps directly to broader construction supervision, safety, scheduling, and quality checks.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
7.0/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

21% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): This occupation has a lower risk of full replacement by AI, software, or robotic systems. Some tasks may be automated or assisted, but the role usually still relies on human judgement, communication, responsibility, physical adaptability, or practical decision-making.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coordinating others’ work

Very important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
Jobs that also use this strength

Persuasion

Quite important
Why this matters
Influencing people to change their minds or behavior through conversation, trust, and negotiation.
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Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
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Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Show 4 more strengths

Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
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Communicating with people outside the organization

Quite important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
Jobs that also use this strength

Consulting and advising others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
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Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 9 votes

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Solar Energy Installation Managers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Pay & outlook

Wages

High paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers was $78,690 ($38 per hour).

The median annual wage for First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers was 59.0% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers' job openings is expected to rise 5.3% by 2034

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 806,080 people employed as 'First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.5% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 191 people are employed as 'First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers'.

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Job description

Direct work crews installing residential or commercial solar photovoltaic or thermal systems.

O*NET-SOC code: 47-1011.03