SOLAR PV INDUSTRY JOBS REPORT - SAPVIA
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SOLAR PV INDUSTRY
JOBS REPORT
APRIL 2021
PREPARED FOR SUBMITTED BY
South African PV Industry Association Ruan Fourie
Eastgate Office Park, Block A Energy Economist | Energy Industry
South Boulevard Road | Bruma Energy Centre | Smart Places | CSIR
Johannesburg | 2198 | South Africa PO Box 395,
Office: +27(0)11 553 7264 Pretoria | 0001
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY:
LITERATURE REVIEW
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY: DOCUMENT CONTROL
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY: DOCUMENT CONTROL
ISSUING ORGANISATION: ......................................................................... Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY: DOCUMENT
ISSUING CONTROL
ORGANISATION: .......................................................................... Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Energy Centre
Energy Centre
Smart Places
Smart
PO BoxPlaces
395
PO Box 395
Pretoria 0001
ISSUING ORGANISATION: ......................................................................... Council for Pretoria 0001
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
ISSUING ORGANISATION: ......................................................................... Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Energy Centre
Energy Centre
Contract Name: ................................................................................................ Smart
CONSULTING
Places AGREEMENT
CONTRACT NAME:.......................................................................................... CONSULTING Smart Places
AGREEMENT
SAPVIA
PO SOLAR
Box 395 PV INDUSTRY JOBS REPORT
PO Box
SAPVIA 395 PV INDUSTRY JOBS REPORT
SOLAR
Pretoria 0001
Pretoria 0001
Contact Details: SAPVIA
CONTACT DETAILS:........................................................................................ SAPVIA Eastgate Office Park, Block A
Contract Name: ................................................................................................ Eastgate OfficeAGREEMENT
South Boulevard
CONSULTING Park,
Road,Block A
Bruma
Contract Name: ................................................................................................
SouthCONSULTING
Boulevard
Johannesburg
SAPVIA
AGREEMENT
Road, Bruma
SOLAR PV INDUSTRY JOBS REPORT
SAPVIA SOLAR PV INDUSTRY JOBS REPORT
Johannesburg
2198
Contact Details: 2198
South Africa
SAPVIA
Contact Details: SouthSAPVIA
Office:Africa
Eastgate+27(0)11
Office 553
Park,7264
Block A
Eastgate
Office: Office
+27(0)11 553 Park, Block A
7264
South Boulevard Road, Bruma
South Boulevard Road, Bruma
Johannesburg
Johannesburg
2198
2198
South Africa
South Africa
APPROVED BY:
APPROVED BY: Office: +27(0)11 553 7264
Office: +27(0)11 553 7264
Responsibility
Responsibility Name
Name Signature
Signature
APPROVED BY:
APPROVED BY:
Project Leader
Project Leader Ruan Fourie
Ruan Fourie
Responsibility Name Signature
Responsibility Name Signature
Project Leader Ruan Fourie
Research Group
Project leader (Energy Systems)
Leader Crescent Mushwana
RuanMushwana
Crescent Fourie
Research Group leaders (Energy Systems)
Research Group leader (Energy Systems) Crescent Mushwana
Centre Manager
Research Dr.Brian
Group leader (Energy Systems) Dr Clinton Carter-Brown
Dr Brian North
North
Centre Manager Dr. Clinton Carter-Brown
Client
Centre representative
Centre Manager
Manager Frank
Dr. Dr.Spencer
Clinton
Clinton Carter-Brown
Carter-Brown
Client representative Frank Spencer
Client
Client representative
representative Frank
Frank Spencer
Spencer
3
3
5TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Stages that influence solar PV employment [12].......................................................................................................................................... 20
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................8 Table 2: Involved FTE jobs for the commissioning of a 1MWp PV facility in 2010 [9].................................................................................. 20
Table 3: Total full time direct jobs as per model results [9]........................................................................................................................................ 21
2. The Jobs Definition Conundrum................................................................................................................................................................................8
Table 4: Solar PV value chain employment factor summary from survey responses [13]........................................................................... 21
2.1. Background..................................................................................................................................................................................................................8
Table 5: Job creation from several renewable energy technologies..................................................................................................................... 22
2.1.1. Green jobs as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)...................................................................................8
2.2. Job-years/full time equivalent (FTE) jobs.................................................................................................................................................... 9
2.3. Direct, indirect and induced jobs....................................................................................................................................................................10
LIST OF FIGURES
2.4. Jobs per standardised unit output..................................................................................................................................................................11
3. Global Solar PV Jobs Overview.................................................................................................................................................................................11
3.1. Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2018/2019 (IRENA)...................................................................................................11
Figure 1: Global Solar PV Installed Capacity [1]................................................................................................................................................................ 18
3.2. Forecasting job creation from renewable energy deployment through a value-chain approach
Figure 2: South African Solar PV Installed Capacity (GW) [1]................................................................................................................................... 18
(University of Zaragoza)............................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Figure 3: Direct, Indirect and Induced Jobs[9]................................................................................................................................................................. 19
3.3. Job creation potential and skill requirements (Masdar Institute of Science and Technology)............................................ 12
Figure 4: Global Employment by renewable energy technologies (IRENA, 2018; IRENA, 2019)............................................................. 19
4. Solar PV Jobs Global Leading Markets (Case Studies)................................................................................................................................. 13 Figure 5: 2019 Chinese solar PV Jobs.................................................................................................................................................................................. 22
4.1. Background............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 6: Estimates of total and average number of FTE jobs created along the South African PV
4.2. Regional off grid solar prospects................................................................................................................................................................... 13 industry value chain (2007, 2010, and 2020)................................................................................................................................................................ 23
4.3. China........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 7: Forecasted Cumulative job years created during the construction phase in wind and solar PV
4.4. Brazil........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 between the year 2018 and 2030........................................................................................................................................................................................... 23
4.5. United States........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 8: Forecasted evolution of net employment in the power sector by the different technologies
4.6. India............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14 (direct jobs)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................24
4.7. Japan........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14
5. South African Solar PV Jobs Overview................................................................................................................................................................ 14
5.1. Photovoltaic Electricity: Localisation study................................................................................................................................................ 15
5.2. Co-benefits job creation through renewable
energy in South Africa................................................................................................................................................................................................. 16
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
5.3. South African employment potential estimation.................................................................................................................................... 16 CIM Construction, Installation and Manufacturing
CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency
6. Conclusions....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 DBSA Development Bank of Southern Africa MW Megawatt
DEFF Department of Environmental Affairs, NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Figures and Tables................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18 Fisheries and Forestry O&M Operations and Maintenance
DMRE Department of Mineral Resources PAYG Pay-as-you-go
References............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25 PV Photovoltaic
and Energy
DRE Decentralised Renewable Energy RE Renewable Energy
EPC Engineering, Procurement and Construction REI4P Renewable Energy Independent Power
GW Gigawatt Producers Procurement Program
GWh Gigawatt hour SAPVIA South African Photovoltaic Industry
IO Input-Output Association
IPPO Independent Power Producers Office SHS Solar Home System
ILO International Labour Organisation SSEG Small-Scale Embedded Generation
UCT University of Cape Town1 INTRODUCTION The literature reviewed in the report identifies the plays a critical role in greening the economy, especially 2.2. JOB-YEARS/FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE) JOBS
number of jobs created as well as the chosen metric in terms of innovation and job creation opportunities.
Global installed renewable energy (RE) power used to report said job numbers. Moreover, job creation opportunities are central in the The reporting of job numbers in a standardised format
generation capacity grew more than 170 GW in 2019 South African low carbon and climate-resilient growth is required due to the variable duration of different
(mostly solar PV) to 2 532 GW [1]. For the fifth year in The literature review concludes with recommendations path. The creation of green jobs is an important part of job opportunities created in the solar PV value chain.
a row, net additions of RE power generation capacity on what the best metrics are to report real job numbers adopting solar PV and other RE technologies, it is also Construction, installation and manufacturing (CIM)
clearly outpaced net installations of fossil fuel and as well as highlighting the results of the countries that a key component of the Just Energy Transition. The jobs generally fall within one year while operation
nuclear power generation capacity combined. Global report annual job numbers in the solar PV domain. South African Department of Environment, Forestry and maintenance (O&M) jobs span the lifetime of
solar PV installations grew from 481 GW in 2018 to 579 and Fisheries (DEFF) identified four areas that can the plant and O&M jobs are generally lower than CIM
GW in 2019, an increase of 98 GW [1], see Figure 1. create and promote green jobs [2]:[2] jobs in the RE sector. Furthermore, some O&M jobs
2 THE JOBS DEFINITION CONUNDRUM tend to periodically employ individuals which leads to
China was the global leader in new solar PV technology n Development and growth of new green sectors and underreporting of job numbers. Defining the different
installations followed by the United States, India and 2.1 BACKGROUND industries; metrics currently used when reporting job numbers
Japan. Solar PV is clearly the global leader in new RE is critically important when undertaking a study that
power sector generation development contributing The impact of RE jobs in South Africa is a complex n Retrofitting industrial efficiency processes and clean aims to collect and forecast job numbers for a specific
57,5% of total new RE generation capacity additions. issue that is highly contested by various groups in the production technologies in existing sectors and technology.
country. It is essential to reach a common understanding industries;
In contrast, South Africa has seen inconsistent growth of how jobs numbers are reported, although there are The terms job-years or full-time equivalent (FTE) are
over the last decade due to policy uncertainty, see several studies conducted on this topic. These studies n Growing existing GE sectors such as renewable often used loosely and are often misinterpreted as
Figure 2 for South African solar PV installed capacity are investigated in this report and analyses work energy, waste recycling and biodiversity; meaning the number of persons employed. The section
evolution. completed by the International Renewable Energy that follows provides an elaboration into job-years and
Agency (IRENA), International Labour Organisation n Incentivising and accelerating private and public- FTE metrics and how they are derived.
The inconsistent procurement of solar PV has seen (ILO), University of Zaragoza, CSIR and the University sector investment in restoring critical ecosystem
variability in employment creation in the sector as of Cape Town (UCT). services and land productivity, water conservation, FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE)
local companies struggle to invest in a market with wetland rehabilitation and fire management.
inconsistent demand for solar PV. Understanding the The uncertainty associated with selecting a consistent According to the ILO definition [4], an FTE job, “is a
reason and implications of this variability in the market jobs metric to use creates confusion when reporting and These are some of the areas that can contribute to unit to measure employed persons in a way that makes
requires a brief overview of the market itself. engaging stakeholders on the number of jobs created by creating green jobs as identified by DEFF. Small and them comparable although they may work a different
a technology in the South African power sector. A wide Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have a significant role to number of hours per week”.
The solar PV market is divided in two market segments: range of definitions of employment generated by energy play in the country’s development objectives due to
utility and embedded generation. The latter spans sector activities have been proposed and a variety of the economic impact they have in the South African The FTE unit is obtained by comparing an employee's
residential, commercial and industrial applications and is methods have been used to construct such estimates. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). SMEs created about average number of hours worked to the average
often referred to as small scale embedded generation This study provides a comparison of how different 14% of employment opportunities which translates to number of hours of a full-time worker. A full-time
(SSEG), while the former mostly covers large utility scale countries or studies are using employment figures or approximately 42% economic contribution towards the worker is therefore counted as one FTE, while a part-
ground mounted installations feeding power directly how they arrive at certain estimates of jobs created by a GDP[2]. The prospects of SMEs in creating jobs in the time worker gets a score in proportion to the hours he
into the grid. Recent times have seen the introduction specific technology deployment such as solar PV. energy value chain is minimal since most of them do not or she works.
of ground mounted installations in the commercial and have the technical capacity in technologies like solar
industrial space. This section focuses on describing various approaches and wind [2]. Efforts to increase the labour absorption This is a good way of measuring employment and is used
used in estimating employment created in the RE in various economic sectors (with the green economy to express the size of the workforce of an enterprise,
Job creation is a significant component of the socio- sector. The section will outline the following concepts: receiving particular attention) have been undertaken activity or country. This metrics proves useful in cross
economic effects related to RE development in South since 2011. value chain jobs assessments as part time employees
Africa. The deployment of solar PV, in the utility and n Job-years/full time equivalent (FTE) jobs can be standardised to annual FTE job numbers.
SSEG markets has created jobs for the South African n Direct, indirect and induced jobs The green economy is complex, extremely diverse and
economy as a whole. n Jobs per standardised unit output rapidly growing in many of its segments, particularly JOB-YEAR
in an economy such as South Africa’s. The country
The likely continued contribution of the solar PV 2.1.1 GREEN JOBS AS DEFINED BY THE INTERNATIONAL will essentially be dealing with the progressive and The CSIR was unable to source a document from a
industry in creating new jobs supports public policy LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO) simultaneous introduction of technologies that are reputable organisation that defines job-year apart from
and the allocation towards solar PV generation in either being improved, developed or commercialised. a document released by the United States Executive
the country’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). This Green jobs are defined as jobs that help reduce the The economic merit of many of these technologies may Office of the President Council of Economic Advisers.
literature review will cover the following aspects of jobs overall negative environmental impact, in the long run only be fully established in years to come, opening up This document defines a job-year as one job for one
emanating from the solar PV sector: leading to environmentally, economically and socially opportunities for the establishment of infant industries year [5].
sustainable enterprises and economies. Green jobs are over time [3]. According to [3], the green economy
n Analyzing the jobs definition conundrum decent jobs, which protect and restore ecosystems sector has the potential to create approximately 98 000 The lack of a reputable referenced document that
n Global solar PV jobs research overview through reducing energy consumption and resources new direct jobs on average in the short term, almost clearly defines what a job year is, creates uncertainty
n Case Studies – solar PV jobs research overview in utilised, thus limiting the production carbon footprint and 255 000 in the medium term and around around the metric itself and whether it would be
various countries waste [2]. The Skills for Green Jobs: South Africa study 462 000 employment opportunities in the formal prudent to use this metric in an analysis undertaken in
n South African solar PV jobs research overview by ILO [2] shows that the private sector stakeholder economy in the long term. the rest of this study.
8 9The CSIR outlined its understanding on what a job-year jobs, especially O&M jobs, which makes the number by a project, and they do not account for the ripple Another approach is to assess employment per unit
is based on how this metric has been used in reporting appear inflated if the basis for the definitions and effect that a project development like solar PV has on of capacity such as megawatt (MW), but a distinction
jobs numbers in other reports. A job-year refers to a job calculations are not understood. the rest of the economy. Within the solar PV market, must be made between the nameplate capacity of
that exists for a consecutive 40 hour per week for an direct jobs are those created by firms that are directly the plant (peak MW) and the expected capacity
undisturbed period of 12 months. The World Bank references another report [8] focused on solar PV project execution: solar developers, utilization of the plant (average MW). Because of the
published in Energy Policy journal which suggests that engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) large variation in capacity factors between alternative
The concept of job-years becomes important when in order to compare different projects with different firms, and solar PV component manufacturers. technologies, the number of jobs created to produce a
accounting for jobs created during the construction lifetimes, it is best to divide the total number of job- given number of GWh per year may vary substantially
phase (18 to 24-month period) and O&M (20 years) years created by the lifetime of the project to arrive In contrast, indirect jobs are created by businesses that between technologies, while the cost for the same
phases of a typical lifetime of a solar PV (or other power at an annual equivalent. This means that the sector are in the second tier of the solar PV industry value annual GWh will increase with reducing capacity factor
generation) project. This enables comparison of jobs on would then report on jobs per annum, rather than total chain, such as suppliers of materials for manufacturing of a plant. Employment would not decrease as the
a like for like basis. This metric format allows the user job-years over the lifetime of the project, which can be (such as glass), electricity suppliers, and public officers capacity factor of a specific plant reduces over time and
to specify how many people are employed in a specific misinterpreted. It should be noted that no single metric who deal with administration and finance. Figure 3 as such the jobs/installed capacity would be a method
year, which requires appropriate treatment of full-time is likely to capture all the nuance of the job volumes and illustrates the examples of direct, indirect and induced for compensating for this inaccuracy. Therefore, for
and part-time jobs and the duration of activities that timing created over a project lifetime. Furthermore, the effects of the solar PV industry. the purposes of this analysis, the metric that is most
are time-bounded. comparison metric numbers observed from different suitable is FTE jobs/MW/annum.
sources can only be meaningful to the extent that the Furthermore, it should be noted that indirect and
While others may argue that this is the best way to same definitions and philosophies have been applied in induced jobs are normally sustained or supported The South African RE market has not tracked real
account for jobs created and supported by the industry calculating the numbers. jobs. This means that, for instance, for a logistics job creation in a standardised method that is publicly
others lean more towards accounting for jobs per company to secure business in the solar PV sector available apart from the IPPO process. This information
energy concept without splitting the construction and 2.3. DIRECT, INDIRECT AND INDUCED JOBS for transportation of equipment and materials to site, is unfortunately not broken down to each value chain
O&M jobs. they sustain their business and they manage to keep segment and the methodology by which this data is
In addition to job-years and FTEs, there is the concept the people employed. These may not be new jobs collected has also not been shared.
EXAMPLES OF JOB-YEAR CALCULATIONS of direct, indirect and induced jobs [6]. This is explained created specifically for the solar PV industry but rather
further in the context of solar PV projects. sustained jobs which enables the economy to maintain
If a job exists for 3 months employing one person, it is jobs that would have otherwise been lost if the logistics 3. GLOBAL SOLAR PV JOBS
a quarter of a job-year, and therefore it would take four n Direct jobs are jobs created by the direct suppliers company did not have a pipeline of business to keep OVERVIEW
3-month-long jobs to make one job-year or FTE. If a job of solar PV projects (e.g. design, development, people employed.
exists for two years, it counts as two job-years. management, construction/installation, and 3.1. RENEWABLE ENERGY AND JOBS – ANNUAL
maintenance phase of the project). While the method for defining different forms of jobs REVIEW 2018/2019 (IRENA)
So, in a 3-month example, if a road maintenance contract creation are mostly aligned across the globe to direct,
(for example) employs 100 people on a 3-month n Indirect jobs are jobs within the value chain of the indirect and induced effects, reporting is dependent on The IRENA annual review does not quote the metric
contract, that contract is actually creating 25 job-years, direct suppliers to the project (e.g. the construction the ability of the industry to track and report on their used to report job number nor the employment ratios1
whereas a two-year project employing 100 people for a equipment manufacturers). The total employment numbers in such a manner. Further limitations include used in calculating final figures. Technologies such as
full period of 2 years is actually creating 200 job-years. created as the solar PV sector expands its outputs the fact that it is difficult to track indirect and especially solar PV have a direct impact on jobs created through
So even though both projects were employing 100 in order to supply the inputs required for the output induced job impacts as many of these business do not the production and installation of the solar cells and
people each, the actual number of job-years created is of the solar PV sector. For example, the manufacture relate their activity to a specific technology. panels. The falling costs of RE technologies continue
225. of glass or aluminium frames to supply solar PV to drive the deployment of solar PV. According to the
manufacturer creates indirect employment. 2.4. JOBS PER STANDARDISED UNIT OUTPUT IRENA Annual Review, international RE employment
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO BUILDING UP JOBS METRICS reached 10.9 million jobs in 2017, a 5.3% increase
n Induced jobs are created as a result of workers When reporting and comparing jobs numbers in compared with the previous year [10]. The jobs created
According to World Bank (2011) [6] the time dimension (directly and indirectly employed by the project the energy value chain, it is important to make sure in 2018 increased by 7% on 2016 levels, reaching a
of a job has to be fully articulated before aggregating value chains) spending earnings within the economy. that job numbers across technologies/value chains record high of 11 million jobs.
employment created from different parts of a project or These may include the jobs created or sustained use the same output metric. The previous 2 sections
policy. A job is usually defined in terms of the number in the hospitality sector in the Northern Cape as summarised metric options that provide a starting The international solar PV sector had 3.4 million jobs in
of job-years attached to the employment. This depends workers require accommodation, food and transport point on reporting job numbers. The issue with these 2017, representing a total installation of 94 GW, which is
on how much time in each year a job is paid for (how for the duration of the construction of solar plants. metrics are that they do not allow for easy comparisons a 23% increase from the previous year. Figure 4 shows
long in a year does the person get paid for), and for how to be drawn across technology options with varying that in 2018 the jobs created in the solar PV sector
many years the job exists. Part-time jobs are converted The industry reports job numbers based on the industry outputs and installed capacities. grew to 3.6 million. The IRENA reports do not provide
to FTEs and then scaled by the number of years for codes specified by StatsSA for specific projects at a a metric used in reporting this information, which could
which that particular job is required (e.g. construction site. However, the job numbers collected in this way In order to compare different technologies, or even be attributed to the misaligned approaches of large
for a few years, maintenance for several years). do not account for the indirect and induced jobs. value chain segments of technologies, one requires a amounts of data that they are collecting across the
Therefore, in order to account for indirect and induced unit output measurement. One potential approach is globe.
Some studies have calculated the total number of job- jobs, additional information has to be collected from that the technologies are compared on employment
years created over the lifetime of the project, which was the industries impacted the new power generation (average job-years/FTE) per unit of energy output
the method initially used by the Independent Power project/facility. The job numbers reported by industry which would be defined as gigawatt-hours (GWh) of 1
Employment ratio refers to the proportion of jobs created per unit of
Producers Office (IPPO) report [7] when reporting on are assumed to be only representing new jobs created electricity generated per year. installed power throughout the solar PV value chain
10 11Many countries derive socio-economic benefits from For example, construction and installation, and Lastly, the study shows that a variable that needs to be sector created jobs in distributed off-grid installations.
RE, but most of the employment benefits remain dismantling, creates more jobs, but for a shorter period considered is the degree of development in the solar Information remains relatively scarce on the full
highly concentrated in countries such as China, Brazil, of time. Most stable jobs are generated in categories 1, 2 PV sector and above all the maturity of the technology employment impacts of off-grid renewable projects.
the United States, India, Germany and Japan with and 4, however, they are mainly located where the actual considered from the industrial development prospects.
these countries having significant proportions of the manufacturing takes place. However, construction and The study used a learning rate to artificially increase the However, a total of 130 million off-grid solar lanterns,
manufacturing of solar energy components. O&M employment opportunities are not dependent on number of real jobs created over time. SHS, and other products had been sold worldwide by
the component manufacturing location. 2017. Over 40 companies that participated in the survey
These benefits are created across the solar PV value conducted by [16] projected off-grid solar employment
chain. The overall employment numbers in 2018 The Zaragoza study continues by developing specific 4. SOLAR PV JOBS3 GLOBAL LEADING in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia at
increased in China and India, while South Africa, the metrics for a 1MWp facility across the PV value chain. MARKETS (CASE STUDIES) 372 000 FTE jobs. Almost 56% of these jobs are in rural
United States, Japan and the European Union lost jobs The metrics used in their assessment is Jobs/MW areas and 27% are occupied by women. This estimate
in the RE sector. The main causes for these decreases as seen in Table 2. The study added another layer of 4.1. BACKGROUND is comprised of sales and distribution, installation and
can be attributed to political and policy changes within complexity by including the professional level2 of the maintenance, and customer support. According to
these nations. The employment outlook is shaped by type of job. The case studies in this section have been primarily IRENA (2019), “Power for All” launched an annual jobs
a wide range of technical, economic and policy-driven adopted from the IRENA Renewable Energy and Jobs census on the decentralised renewable energy (DRE)
factors. The study concludes by using these metrics to calculate Annual Review [10] with supplementary sources from sector in low-energy access countries.
the number of jobs created by the Spanish PV industry other reports . The case studies below will provide
Furthermore, the analysis takes an overall technology between 2001 and 2010 based on the MW installed. insights into the number of jobs created as well as This census involves a wide range of solar technologies.
view in reporting the number of jobs created and does Results can be seen in Table 3 above. Results were recent trends in various nations, however, it will not Originally the project focused on Kenya, India and
not delineate between different parts of the technology aggregated to differentiate between manufacturing, speak to the metrics used as IRENA does not define the Nigeria, however, the geographic scope will broaden to
value chains. This extends from component design installation and O&M jobs and provides a breakdown of metric they employ nor the methodology in gathering 10 countries in 2019 and 25 in 2020. The study examines
and manufacturing by O&M through to assembling, jobs created across the PV value chain that cannot be said information in their studies. This is indicative of a approximately 150 DRE businesses and conducts focus
installation and commissioning/monitoring. As such viewed in the IRENA reports. global challenge in quantifying job numbers in the RE group discussions with stakeholders from government,
the CSIR continued its literature review with the aim sector. skills development and training sector, civil society,
of identifying methods used internationally to capture 3.3. JOB CREATION POTENTIAL & SKILLS finance, and industry.
and report on real job numbers collected across the REQUIREMENTS 4.2. REGIONAL OFF GRID SOLAR PROSPECTS
value chain of solar PV. The research analysis, which is still pending, is set
The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in the Solar PV will continue to play an important role in to yield valuable insights on total DRE employment
3.2. FORECASTING JOB CREATION FROM United Arab Emirates conducted a similar study [13] improving energy access. The global renewable off- permanency of jobs, levels of compensation, current
RENEWABLE ENERGY DEPLOYMENT THROUGH A to that of the University of Zaragoza with the aim of grid capacity more than doubled in the past decade to skills demand, recruitment challenges, and gender and
VALUE-CHAIN APPROACH quantifying job creation potential of RE across their 8.8 GW in 2018; off-grid solar PV expanded 10-fold to youth representation.
respective value chains. This study builds on the “jobs 2.9 GW [10]. In South Asia, public sector programmes
In 2013, the team at the University of Zaragoza in Spain per unit measure of energy” principle by conducting have had a strong role in improving energy access. On The study maps areas of indirect employment impacts
identified the same issue outlined in the previous section interviews and surveys with key industry stakeholders to the contrary, private sector “Pay-as-you-go” (PAYG) in upstream activities such as equipment suppliers, or
and set out to develop a methodology to capture real obtain the required metrics across different technology business models are common in Sub-Saharan Africa. service providers such as training and education [10].
data across the RE technologies value chains. The value chains. Investment in private off-grid projects grew from $10
method proposed is based on the collection, critical million in 2010 to $511.5 million in 2018, accounting for 4.3. CHINA
analysis and presentation of the results obtained This study, at the start, applied a high-level approach a cumulative investment of $ 1.7 billion over that period.
using primary information sources. The main focus for which provides simplicity that is not provided by classic China remains the clear leader in renewable energy
reviewing this literature is to draw insights from the input-output (IO) models when estimating job impacts, Businesses operating under the PAYG model played a employment worldwide, accounting for 39% of the
methodology rather than the results as the data is dated. since analytical models generally ignore jobs that are significant role in growing jobs created in developing world’s total RE jobs. Overall, a drop in solar PV from
less indirectly associated with an industry. countries. A recent case study known as “BBOXX’s” 2.216 million jobs to 2.194 million has been recorded in
The study states that quantifying total jobs involved in in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s “Energie pour 2019. This is due to a notice by the government of China
the deployment of solar PV and other RE technologies As such the results are likely to under-report overall Tous” rural electrification initiative intended to provide that it was suspending advantageous arrangements
can give varying results as technology deployment employment impacts [14]. Such more concise models energy access through solar home systems (SHS) and for utility-scale solar, imposing a cap on subsidised
differs across off-grid, grid-connected, ground or often use employment factors illustrated in Table 4 from mini-grids to 2.5 million people by 2020 projected distributed solar, and reducing feed-in-tariffs in
rooftop-mounted PV [12]. interviews or questionnaires from industry partners to nearly 10 000 jobs that could be created through solar response to continuous growth in solar subsidies.
link RE technology diffusion employment estimations. PV deployment. Subsidies had grown largely because the authority
These differences are caused by varying labour Interview specifics are used to develop job intensities that approves solar farms was delegated to the local
intensity of each stage in the solar PV value chain for or employment factors, defined as the number of jobs According to [15], approximately 80% of global level in 2013, making policy coordination difficult. China
different applications and scale. Jobs and employment derived from a certain RE technology investment or investments in off-grid solar PV projects were in Sub- installed 43 GW of solar PV in 2018, which is an 18%
characteristics are different depending on the nature of capacity. The metrics listed in the table below differ in Saharan Africa, while 15% in South Asia and 5% in Latin decline as compared to 2017. Rooftop solar PV saw
the projects. their energy units and employment type grouping as America. A group of key participating firms, including gains, although utility-scale deployment dropped
the survey allowed respondents to reply on their own Zola, M-KOPA, d.light, Mobisol, BBOXX, and others, significantly.
Table 1 shows the various categories of jobs created chosen energy unit. secured two-thirds of the total investment. The solar PV
across the solar PV value chain and provides details Largely, the production of solar PV modules grew
regarding their stability, level of specialisation and 2
The authors do not provide a detailed description of what professional level 3
The solar PV jobs consulted in this literature include utility-scale as well as
by 21% in 2018 to 87 GW, however, significant
volumes. jobs entail distributed solar system overcapacities in the supply chain led to some factory
12 13closures and layoffs. Offsetting lower domestic sales to 4.6. INDIA of 18 Strategic Infrastructure Projects that is intended have a higher installed capacity. The payback period
a large extent, exports rose by 30%, to 41 GW, during to transform the economic landscape of South Africa, of rooftop systems is between 5 and 7 years. The
2018. PV exports to emerging markets are being India’s employment in grid-connected solar PV, as create a significant number of new jobs, strengthen the construction and installation of solar PV systems for
promoted through China’s newly unveiled International estimated by IRENA using employment factors, delivery of basic services to the people of South Africa commercial and industrial applications is estimated to
Investment Alliance for Renewable Energy. Chinese PV increased to 115 000 jobs in 2018, a gain of more than and support the integration of African economies. create between 5.3 and 8.0 FTE jobs per MW.
manufacturers are also increasing their global footprint, 20 000 additional jobs over 2017. Jobs in off-grid solar
with production facilities in close to 20 countries [10]. applications cannot be calculated with precision since The section below will provide a high level assessment Comparing these metrics to those on a utility scale it
The solar PV employment numbers created in China are jobs are quantified by employment factors and some of the amount of jobs that solar PV created in SA can be seen that the number of jobs per MW increase
shown in Figure 5. off-grid systems are small in size therefore it is not according to a different research reports. as time progresses. Grid-tied and autonomous off-
always feasible to use employment factors. Moreover, grid PV systems that deploy batteries through hybrid
4.4. BRAZIL the indirect jobs for off-grid solar systems are diverse 5.1. SOLAR PV ELECTRICITY: LOCALISATION STUDY systems are used for household PV systems.
throughout the world.
IRENA Renewable Energy and Jobs Annual Review of The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association Most of these applications are found in rural areas.
2019 reported that Brazil is increasing activities in solar However, the jobs creation may well double total solar PV (SAPVIA) in collaboration with South Africa’s Trade, The adoption of PV systems in South Africa has been
PV, installing 828 MW of large-scale capacity and 318 employment. Seven of India’s top 10 module suppliers Industry and Competition (the DITC) and the World dominated by applications in rural households, however,
MW of distributed capacity during 2018. In operation are Chinese firms. Indian manufacturers cannot compete Wildlife Fund for Nature commissioned a research in the past few years the recent amendments of the
since mid-2018, the country’s 399 MW Pirapora solar on cost due to a number of factors such as incentives study into the localisation potential of solar PV and Electricity Act of 2006 has increased residential and
complex in Minas Gerais is one of Latin America’s larger that the Chinese companies receive for manufacturing, the strategy needed to support a large scale roll-out in commercial solar PV systems adoption[19]. Moreover,
domestic modules users (Power Technology, 2018). cheap labour costs, technology development knowhow South Africa in 2012/2013. The reports content is based the application of solar PV systems in industrial sector
IRENA’s employment factor calculations suggest that and automated production. Imports, principally from on a much earlier report completed in 2006 using 2001 and mining areas has increased significantly.
Brazil presently has close to 15 600 jobs in solar PV, China and Malaysia, but increasingly also from Thailand, data.
mostly in construction and installation. According Vietnam, and Singapore, dominate the Indian market. The jobs created during the installation of residential
to [10], the industry group Associação Brasileira de In the fiscal year 2018, domestic manufacturers had a A detailed breakdown of the methodology employed solar PV systems differ depending on whether it is a
Energia Solar Fotovoltaica, will likely install about 1 GW market share of just 7% [18]. during the study is not represented in the report which rooftop or a mono pole grounded solar PV system.
of capacity during 2019, and 15 000 new jobs could be makes it difficult to compare the results of the study to Rooftop systems have been adopted predominantly,
created from this initiative. 4.7. JAPAN other research pieces. and they are projected to create between 6.1 and 9.2
FTE jobs per MW (i.e. 7.7 FTE jobs per MW on average)
4.5. UNITED STATES Japan’s solar PV installations reached a cumulative 55.5 5.1.1 UTILITY MARKET during construction and installation [19]. Most solar
GW in 2018, the second-largest installations after China. PV systems for households are being installed on
According to the IRENA Renewable Energy and Jobs The pace of new installations declined for the third According to this 2017 study completed on the Solar rooftops; however, ground mounting or mono pole
Annual Review of 2019, in the US solar PV experienced year in a row. The reasons for slowdown in solar PV PV market in South Africa [19], the utility market is systems can also be installed, nevertheless, their cost is
a second successive year of job losses, down to 242 installations were lower feed-in-tariffs, land shortages projected to lead in terms of installed capacities in the approximately 5-10% more expensive.
300 [10]. This was due to the uncertainty surrounding and grid constraints. Close to 300 solar firms have near to medium-term and is anticipated to procure 1.1
US import tariff policy that resulted in several utility- declared bankruptcy since 2015, with the number rising GW between 2017-2020. Construction of utility-scale Solar PV modules and inverters are among the top three
scale projects being delayed. The policy amendments year on year. projects are expected to create 5.83 FTE jobs per MW biggest cost items for household solar PV systems.
in California and Massachusetts also reduced solar per annum, and this can be strengthened through Table 5 shows that solar PV technology can create up
PV activities. Once the uncertainty over tariffs was According to [11] in Japan employment is estimated to improved local content policy. Additionally, O&M are to 17 times more FTE jobs per average MW over the
lifted, new projects started construction and project be approximately 250 000 jobs, a reduction of 22 000 expected to create 0.35 FTE jobs per MW over the life of the facility during the establishment phase [19]
announcements surged. from 2017. A new driver is expected to be activated by lifetime of the facility. PV components like inverters, than wind power or solar thermal technologies. At the
the larger installations and more jobs may come from mounting hardware and modules account for the operational phase, solar PV impact on employment is
Also, the Chinese government’s decision in May 2018 the government’s “Zero Energy Homes” policy, which biggest expenditure of the total project cost. smaller since it requires minimal operation supervision
to cut domestic solar incentives which support the requires all new buildings to integrate solar PV and and maintenance. Furthermore, employment created
domestic Chinese solar PV industry had the effect of energy efficiency technologies by 2030. This initiative Continuous job creation opportunities are dependent during production and installation of solar PV
reducing global demand for modules as Chinese solar is specific to Japan. on market certainty and government commitments technology has the potential to create employment
prices decreased; the resulting over-supply lowered to continue procuring solar PV. The FTE/MW figures in other sectors that are not in the value chain. These
prices worldwide and counteracted the impact of the mentioned in this study is based on theoretical modelling may include the financial services sector and security
tariffs [17]. Two-thirds of these jobs are in installations 5. SOUTH AFRICAN SOLAR PV JOBS framework which provides context of metrics that can services, among others.
and project development, mainly in the residential OVERVIEW be expected but does not provide a methodology for
areas. Manufacturing accounts for 14% of solar PV jobs collecting and reporting on real jobs data. Figure 6 shows that 3.5 FTE jobs/MW and 1.2 FTE
created in the solar PV sector [10]. Domestic US module The Department of Minerals Resources and Energy jobs/MW can be created by the supply and services
production has been volatile over the years, and most of (DMRE) Renewable Energy Independent Power 5.1.2 COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL MARKET AND SMALL value chain segments respectively. Solar PV panels
the solar PV technology is imported. Uncertainty about Producers Procurement Programme (REI4P) was RESIDENTIAL MARKETS suppliers that provide the link between producers and
the US tariff policy hindered investments in the utility- established at the end of 2010 as one of the South installers benefit from solar PV projects by achieving
scale solar PV projects. The US example illustrates African government’s urgent interventions to enhance The commercial and industrial market share increased approximately 2.9 FTE jobs/MW [19]. The ability of
the negative effect that policy uncertainty and rapid South Africa’s power generation capacity. The South rapidly in the past few years in South Africa, with South Africa to realise employment opportunities
changes can have on solar PV job creation potential. African government adopted a framework consisting rooftop applications accounting for the largest number created through the development of the local solar PV
of installations, although ground-mounted plants energy capacity is dependent on the country’s industry
14 15and market structure. This especially relates to the The study further developed a net employment impacts year to be considered fully employed. However, should n The concept of job categories of direct, indirect and
jobs created during the first few stages of the value analysis that reported direct FTE jobs only utilising a the crew build only one plant, the employment creation induced jobs is critical. Study results need to be clear
chain, i.e. Research and Development (R&D), supply, SATIMCGE model that calculated economic gains and would be reflected as 2.5 jobs created. as to which of these categories have been included.
and production that are generally concentrated in the losses across all sectors and quantified job gains and Comparing total numbers will be misleading if
global solar PV production hubs. losses in the power sector. The analysis differs from the studies are not consistently including the same
gross assessment as only direct FTE jobs are reported 6. CONCLUSIONS job categories. This should be considered when
Therefore, the realisation of employment potential from the modelling exercise. developing the value chain that the data collection
associated with the first few stages of the value chain The literature review has explored job creation wants to explore as this can be a method to exclude
in any given country would be subject to numerous Figure 8 indicates that in the medium term, coal reporting by reviewing: induced jobs which are extremely difficult to collect
factors, including localisation capabilities. Installation continues to play an important role in the power and quantify
of solar PV also creates employment opportunities for sector as a major employer, but this decreases over n Job creation defining reports,
the local labour force. time as coal-fired power plants are decommissioned n Global reports that share best practice for reporting n Surveying of companies within the technologies
and replaced with other emerging technologies, most on jobs numbers, value chain can be hampered by how said companies
5.2. CO-BENEFITS JOB CREATION THROUGH notably solar PV and wind. n Cases studies on nations that create substantial choose to track their employment generation figures.
RENEWABLE ENERGY IN SOUTH AFRICA amounts of solar PV jobs and, Surveying for direct, indirect and induced effects
5.3. SOUTH AFRICAN EMPLOYMENT POTENTIAL n A review of South African reports that pertain to RE when companies choose to track their employees
The Co-benefit of climate change mitigation study [20] ESTIMATION job creation numbers based on their payroll could create a lower response
conducted a detailed theoretical modelling exercise rate to surveys. To mitigate these negative effects, it
to calculate the number of jobs being created in the The study analysis by TIPS in 2011 shows that over 15 is suggested to use simpler metrics that align best
RE space within South Africa. This study analyses the years (where the short term refers to 2011 and 2012; the This review has highlighted the following key points with how companies track their employment and
employment impacts of different plans for expanding medium-term refers to the subsequent five-year period listed below: generation figures and capture direct and indirect
electricity generation in South Africa’s power sector; up to and including the year 2017; and the long term effects in the value chain breakdown itself.
this was carried out in the context of the Co-benefits refers to the subsequent eight-year period up to and n Jobs created vary substantially between the asset
project with the aim of assessing the co-benefits of including the year 2025) employment opportunities construction and O&M phases. Reporting of jobs in n The fact that the majority of the jobs in solar PV are
a low-carbon energy transition in the country. It is that will be created from the adoption of the green a particular timeframe (such as in a particular year) created in the initial construction phase requires a
important to note that the studies compared power economy will continue to increase. The projection of needs to be assessed in relation to the portfolio of continuous rollout of annual solar PV installations to
sector modelling scenarios and not technologies employment potential was based on the expected projects and the cycle of implementation. sustain the existing construction jobs. This will allow
specifically. number of jobs per year (on a non-cumulative basis). the creation of a sustainable industry and an industry
n The concept of FTEs is critical. Substantial that will replenish itself every 20-25 years when a
As such, PV specific information is limited in the review Therefore, for construction employment to be differences will arise when reporting on the number solar PV facility reaches end of life and needs to be
of this study as the growth in jobs takes into account sustained from one year to the next, the construction of people employed versus FTEs. A lack of clarity on replaced.
all technologies being deployed. Furthermore, job activity would need to be sustained, while an increase these specifics is likely to result in large differences
numbers are reported in job years and cover direct, in employment would have to be associated with a in reported numbers and will render comparison of
indirect and induced job impacts. higher level of construction activity [3]. This means that numbers largely invalid.
for green jobs to be sustained for a long period, policy
Four scenarios for the future development of the certainty is required so that the deployment of RE is n As mentioned above, proportionally more jobs are
electricity sector in South Africa were analysed: Council predictably undertaken. created in the construction phase as compared to
for Scientific and Industrial Research Least Cost planning O&M for solar PV. The concept of an average FTEs
scenario (CSIR_LC); Department of Environmental Nonetheless, external opportunities, whether in the employed per annum over the lifetime of the plant
Affairs Rapid Decarbonisation scenario (DEA_RD); rest of Africa or elsewhere, could sustain employment (or total FTEs over all years) is valid but will result
draft Integrated Resource Plan 2016 (IRP 2016); and levels through initiatives such as local manufacturing in a substantially different number as compared to
draft Integrated Resource Plan Policy Adjusted scenario of energy components. The lifespan of the facilities/ looking at jobs in any particular year.
2018 (IRP 2018) collect real job information. Gross equipment was, where necessary, taken into account
employment research utilising IJEDI to determine gross in the employment calculations as it has replacement n The FTE metric alone does not provide the necessary
job impacts focused on all scenarios except the DEA implications. flexibility to compare job creation potential
rapid decarbonisation scenario. across technologies nor value chain segments. A
Employment estimates for O&M activities, in turn, standardized unit of output is required to create
Figure 7 shows the cumulative job years created by capture the number of people needed to operate the a metric that mitigates against technologies
both wind power and solar PV technologies for each plants already constructed and commissioned, implying differences in capacity factors and provides the
of the scenarios analysed during the period 2018 – that the workers employed in year one would still be ability to forecast future job creation potential as
2030. More jobs are created in the wind sector under employed in year two and so on [3]. This means that more MW’s are deployed.
the CSIR_LC and IRP 2018_PA scenarios. This can be an increase in the number of plants will also increase
attributed to the larger shares of wind power capacities the quantum of employment associated with O&M
added in comparison to solar PV in both scenarios over requirements.
the analysed time horizon. The figures attributed to
solar PV are relatively high but includes induced job The jobs are also calculated on an FTE basis. For
creation which cannot be easily quantified in terms of instance, if a crew of ten people can build a plant in
real jobs. three months, it would have to build four plants per
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