Illinois’ booming solar sector entices young job seekers
January 14, 2026
Sergio Mendez was tired of earning a living by working security in nightclubs. So the 22-year-old resident of Chicago’s Southwest Side decided to make a big change, enrolling in a 10-week program that promised to teach him the fundamental skills needed to pursue a career in the solar industry.
“I was just dealing with a lot of drunk people. I wanted to get out of it,” Mendez said of his former job. Now he envisions a future as a solar salesperson or installer. In late December, he graduated alongside six other young adults enrolled in the course, run by Elevate, a national clean-energy nonprofit based in Chicago.
Illinois has emerged as a solar leader in recent years, thanks in large part to its robust incentives and its mandates that utilities get an increasing amount of electricity from renewables. In 2024, the state ranked fourth nationwide in terms of new solar capacity, with over 2,800 megawatts installed, and it added another 815 megawatts in the first three quarters of 2025, according to a December report by consultancy Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
The industry’s momentum translates to lots of employment opportunities: The Solar Energy Industries Association counted almost 6,000 solar jobs in Illinois in 2025, and it projects that the state will add close to another 15,000 megawatts of solar over the next five years.
“With energy demand growing — some would say, out of control — solar is the fastest [generation source] to deploy,” said J.D. Smith, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin-based solar installer Arch Electric. “From a technical standpoint, if you’re trying to power the grid, [solar] is such a good decision. You can get it cheap and fast, and it’s repeatable.”
Companies expanding to meet that demand are eager to snap up graduates of workforce development programs.
In the past year, Arch — one of the employers at a December job fair for Mendez and his peers — has hired 14 graduates of training programs run by Elevate and other Chicago-area nonprofits. Seven of those individuals are already in apprenticeships to become certified electricians.
“If you know at least 50% of the people you hire from these organizations will want to be an apprentice and invest in their future with your organization, that makes it a business no-brainer,” Smith said.
Solar companies also rely on training programs to produce qualified candidates from what the state has defined as “equity” communities, he explained. Under Illinois’ 2021 clean-energy law, firms can access incentives for hiring individuals from these areas, which face disproportionate amounts of pollution and have historically been excluded from economic opportunities.
“There is an enormous demand for these programs,” Smith said. “We will take everyone we can get who is willing to invest their time and learn.”
The course that Mendez graduated from marks Elevate’s first solar training aimed specifically at adults between the ages of 18 and 24.
Many of the participants, including Mendez, are alumni of the Academy for Global Citizenship, a K–8 charter school on Chicago’s Southwest Side that hosted the course in two geodesic domes built specifically for the program. The school’s campus boasts both ground-mounted and rooftop solar panels, as well as a geothermal heating and cooling system.
“When you’re around it since you’re young, it’s just normal,” Mendez said of solar.
Solar training in session on Dec. 4, 2025, inside one of the geodesic domes at Chicago’s Academy for Global Citizenship (Kari Lydersen/Canary Media)
Over the course of Elevate’s training, students learned about everything from the basics of electricity to solar system installation. They got hands-on practice with panels and wiring and took a field trip to see one of Illinois’ many community solar arrays. And they prepared for the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners exam; a certification like the one issued by NABCEP is required to install solar on buildings in most states, including Illinois.
“We see how to set up a solar panel system, how all the parts work, how we make sure not to blow anyone up,” said student Josh Paz, age 23, another alumnus of the charter school. Before enrolling in Elevate’s training, he had worked in retail stores, in warehouses, and as a landscaper.
“I’ve always liked to work with my hands, so it’s pretty fun,” he said of solar. “And we’re building a cleaner future. America’s a little behind the rest of the world, but it’s good to see solar growing exponentially.”
Other graduates of the Elevate program are similarly bullish about building a career in clean energy — and using it to address societal injustices in Chicago and beyond.
“You see the discrimination, the amount of residential areas near power plants, all Black and brown people,” said 21-year-old Matthias Hunter. “The race for renewable energy in America is going to be a challenge, especially with this administration. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. This is the future. It’s not optional.”
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Kari Lydersen
is a contributing reporter at Canary Media who covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
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