Daylighting pathways to good jobs in California's solar industry

Abstract

This paper identifies the opportunities for, and challenges to, creating good quality jobs for socioeconomically disadvantaged workers through mid-size solar photovoltaic projects in California. Recent policy proposals in the United States suggest that clean energy investments can address both climate change and economic inequality, but existing research calls those claims into question. This paper elaborates on the history of union organizing, project labor agreements and prevailing wage law in the solar photovoltaic industry in California, providing some insight into the opportunities for using these tools to shape job quality in the mid-size solar photovoltaic sector. In combination with key informant interviews, this will enable us to address the question: under what conditions might mid-size solar photovoltaic projects enable good jobs? My analysis suggests that union organizing, project labor agreements and prevailing wage laws are likely to play a smaller role in mid-size projects than they have in utility-scale projects, and thus additional tools are necessary to ensure that mid-size solar photovoltaic projects create good quality jobs for those that need them the most. Policymakers should consider how to attach workforce investment requirements and labor standards to any regulatory incentives for mid-size projects.