The national solar industry is expected to add 30,000 jobs in 2016, a 14.7% jump from last year. Who are the workers building this new market?

Antwain Nelson held various jobs in the construction field for several years, but the work never felt fulfilling. Then an opportunity to volunteer in low-income neighborhoods introduced him to his current job and, he says, a clear career path.

“The first day, I fell in love with it,” says Nelson, 25, an installer of solar energy systems and a lifelong resident of Washington DC. The people he works with, he says, feel “like another family to me”.

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