COVID-19 Continues to Wreak Havoc but Solar Innovations Cannot Be Stopped

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 600,000 U.S. clean energy workers have lost their jobs, according to Environmental Entrepreneurships and other renewable energy associates. In April alone, 447,208 new workers filed unemployment claims which have tripled the claims that were filed in March. This means 17.8% of the industry's workforce has filed for unemployment benefits in April and March combined. To give you an even better idea, the number of jobs lost is more than double the number of clean energy jobs created since 2017.

Without stimulus, it will get worse

Before the epicenter of COVID-19 shifted to Europe and the US, clean energy had been one of the U.S. economy's biggest and fastest-growing employment sectors. From 2015 to 2019–end, it grew 10.4% resulting in 3.4 million jobs. This boost made clean energy the biggest employer in all energy occupations by far. Moreover, it employed nearly three times greater workforce compared to the fossil fuel industry. Its fate greatly depends on the Trump administration taking substantive action to support the industry with aid packages to help it survive the downturn. If no action is taken, the above report estimates a figure of 850,000 unemployed clean energy workers by the end of June.

COVID-19 has paused the economy, but it is powerless when it comes to sunlight

One of the rare few in the UK economy not to have a dreadful April was solar energy, with the sunniest April in its records. The industry reported its highest ever production of electricity on April 20^th. And let's not forget that the race on increasing efficiency of solar cells is taking place worldwide, from the US to China and in-between. And just like Texas, the state of oil, is starting to fall in love with solar technology, so are Nigerian developers as they are looking for ways to build the industry in order to help the most vulnerable population.

New applications

Worksport FNHI is launching the world's first solar-powered truck tonneau covers, it also announced this morning record 2019 revenues. Mobility innovator Lightyear and resin supplier DSM are developing Lightyear's solar-powered roofs for EVs, both of which will surely further boost the adoption of EVs, a market with enormous growth potential. To give you a better idea, Bloomberg valued at $160-plus billion in 2019 while projecting to reach $800-plus billion by 2027. The message is clear, the world wants a cleaner future and solar technology can greatly speed this up by sun-powering this trend. JinkoSolar JKS, one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world, is also not showing any signs of stopping as it just announced the official launch of its 2020 flagship high-efficiency Tiger Pro module series that paves the way for investors to generate higher power output. And we will see on May 28^th how Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ did in its first fiscal quarter after its Infrastructure Fund Inc was included as a major component of Tokyo Stock Exchange's new Infrastructure Funds Index, TSE's new Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") related finance product.

The potential is too big to pass on

COVID-19 will change the way we do business. Solar developers can be at the forefront of this shift, ensuring a greener and cleaner future. Innovation in this segment is already accelerating as today's average commercial solar panel converts 17-19% of the light energy hitting it to electricity, which is up from 12% which was the case 10 years ago. Now imagine what will happen when that figure reaches 30%. If anything, it means we could get much more than today's 2.4% of global electricity supply from the Sun. Now that is called making a difference!

So, even with the ‘doomsday scenario', rest assured that the world's fastest-growing energy technology is here for the long-haul.

This article is not a press release and is contributed by Ivana Popovic who is a verified independent journalist for IAMNewswire. It should not be construed as investment advice at any time please read the full disclosure. Ivana Popovic does not hold any position in the mentioned companies. Press Releases – If you are looking for full Press release distribution contact: press@iamnewswire.com Contributors – IAM Newswire accepts pitches. If you're interested in becoming an IAM journalist contact: contributors@iamnewswire.com Questions about this release can be sent to ivana@iamnewswire.com

The post COVID-19 Continues to Wreak Havoc but Solar Innovations Cannot Be Stopped appeared first on IAM Newswire.