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LED & Solar hiring kit

How to hire for LED & Solar.

To hire for LED & solar well, My Trade Talent's LED & Solar hiring kit takes all 2 roles we recruit in order: what each seat is and what it pays, the technical questions that test it, the 4 credentials to verify, and what can kill the offer between acceptance and the first day.

2 roles: Solar Photovoltaic Installer, Electrician (LED & Solar). Free, with nothing to fill in. If you would rather a recruiter ran the search, that is the LED & Solar recruiting page.

Step 1 · Plan

What each LED & solar seat is, and what it pays.

Each band is labelled with where it comes from. A My Trade Talent band is mid-experience, built from our own engagement history, and moves with experience and region. A BLS band is the federal 10th to 90th percentile, national and unadjusted, used where we have not closed enough searches in the trade to publish our own.

LED & Solar roles, pay bands and credentials
RolePay bandCredentials that move an offer
Solar Photovoltaic InstallerInstalls commercial photovoltaic systems: racking and attachment to the roof or structure, module setting, DC wiring and combiners, inverters, and the labelling and rapid shutdown the code requires. $41,600 to $79,970Federal figures: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national, SOC 47-2231. The range is the 10th to 90th percentile and the median is $53,140. It is not adjusted for experience or region, and it is not a My Trade Talent band. NABCEP (preferred)
Electrician (LED & Solar)Performs the licensed electrical work on lighting retrofit and solar projects: service and panel work, conductor sizing and runs, inverter and disconnect installation, interconnection, controls and sensors on lighting jobs, and the commissioning and utility sign-off at the end. $42,640 to $108,510Federal figures: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national, SOC 47-2111. The range is the 10th to 90th percentile and the median is $63,190. It is not adjusted for experience or region, and it is not a My Trade Talent band. State License

We publish no LED & solar median of our own yet, so this is the all-trades figure: My Trade Talent's median commercial trades hire took 21 days across 88 searches closed in 2026 year to date, counted as calendar days from our first contact with the candidate to the hire. The full distribution is in the Hiring Index.

Price the seat by experience and region in the salary calculator, and work out what leaving it open costs in the cost of vacancy calculator.

Step 3 · Interview

How to interview for each LED & solar role.

Everyone who applies will claim the experience. These are the questions that test it, the signals that separate a strong candidate from a plausible one, and the mistake each seat invites.

Solar Photovoltaic Installer

BLS 10th to 90th percentile

Installs commercial photovoltaic systems: racking and attachment to the roof or structure, module setting, DC wiring and combiners, inverters, and the labelling and rapid shutdown the code requires. Most of the risk is on a roof, and the roof warranty is somebody else's.

Questions that find out

  1. How do you attach racking on a membrane roof without voiding the warranty?
  2. What does the code require for rapid shutdown and how do you verify it works?
  3. A string is reading low at the combiner. How do you trace it?

What a strong candidate shows

  • Knows the attachment detail and who holds the roof warranty
  • Describes rapid shutdown and labelling requirements as code, not paperwork
  • Fall protection stated as a working practice rather than a certificate

The mistake this seat invites. Hiring residential installers for commercial work without checking the structural and electrical scale-up. The systems, the attachments and the inspection are different.

Build a scorecard for this role Total an offer Pay by metro

Electrician (LED & Solar)

BLS 10th to 90th percentile

Performs the licensed electrical work on lighting retrofit and solar projects: service and panel work, conductor sizing and runs, inverter and disconnect installation, interconnection, controls and sensors on lighting jobs, and the commissioning and utility sign-off at the end.

Questions that find out

  1. Walk me through an interconnection from application to permission to operate.
  2. How do you size conductors and overcurrent protection on a PV circuit?
  3. A networked lighting control system is not holding its schedule. How do you commission it?

What a strong candidate shows

  • Electrical licence current for the jurisdiction, stated without hedging
  • Has done an interconnection and dealt with the utility, not just the inverter
  • Lighting controls described as commissioning work rather than device installation

The mistake this seat invites. Treating retrofit work as device swapping. The licensed electrical scope, the interconnection and the controls commissioning are where the job succeeds or stalls.

Build a scorecard for this role Total an offer Pay by metro

Every role in every trade is in the interview question bank.

Step 4 · Offer

What can kill a LED & solar offer before day one.

The things that end an accepted offer between the yes and the start date, specific to this trade and each sourced.

  • NABCEP is not a licence, and candidates think it is

    NABCEP says so itself: its board certification is peer recognition, not registration or licensure. A hiring manager who screens on NABCEP alone finds after the offer that the work still has to be performed or supervised under a state electrical or solar contractor licence held by somebody else.

    Source: www.nabcep.org/certifications/frequently-asked-questions/

  • The electrician licence does not cross the state line

    Reciprocity is narrow and level-specific rather than general. Texas publishes journeyman reciprocity with ten named states and master reciprocity with a much shorter list, and states plainly that no other licence types reciprocate. A journeyman relocating from outside those lists starts again.

    Source: www.tdlr.texas.gov/electricians/out-of-state.htm

  • PVIP cannot be earned without an employer

    It requires documented project credits on permitted, finally inspected systems in a decision-making role, verified and recent. A candidate between jobs, or one whose previous firm will not verify their projects, cannot complete it alone, so the plan to get certified after hire often quietly fails.

    Source: www.nabcep.org/certifications/nabcep-board-certifications/

  • Height is the day-one filter

    Commercial rooftop PV triggers fall protection duties above six feet on low-slope roofs, and lighting retrofit means aerial lifts, where only trained and authorised people may operate and a harness or restraint is required. Harness fit, lift certification gaps and plain comfort at height surface on the first morning, not in the interview.

    Source: www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.501

Add up the whole offer, not just the base, in the offer calculator.

Step 5 · Onboard

Credentials to verify before the first day.

Each names the body that issues it and links to the issuer's own page or a .gov page. Researched 2026-09-23; re-read the source before relying on an entry.

  • NABCEP PV Installation Professional (PVIP)

    North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)

    The certification commercial EPCs put on bid qualifications, covering PV design, installation, commissioning and maintenance. It requires documented completed installations in a decision-making role, plus OSHA construction outreach training, so it is not a credential a first-year installer can hold.

    Source: www.nabcep.org/certifications/nabcep-board-certifications/

  • NABCEP PV Associate

    North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)

    The entry credential, which NABCEP says qualifies someone to design, sell, install or maintain systems in a supervised capacity. This is the realistic ask for a first-year installer.

    Source: www.nabcep.org/certifications/associate-program/

  • NALMCO Certified Apprentice Lighting Technician (CALT) and Certified Senior Lighting Technician (CSLT)

    NALMCO, the International Association of Lighting Management Companies

    The technician ladder specific to commercial lighting retrofit rather than solar. CSLT covers lighting fundamentals, planned maintenance, luminaires, emergency lighting, energy management and controls, safety and electrical code, and troubleshooting. NALMCO states that CALT must be obtained before earning the CSLT designation. Both renew every three years on nine hours of continuing education.

    Source: www.nalmco.org/cslt

  • OSHA 10-hour and 30-hour Construction Outreach cards

    OSHA Outreach Training Program, US Department of Labor

    OSHA does not itself require these, but states that some states, cities and employers mandate them as a prerequisite to employment. In practice the card gates site access on most general-contractor-controlled commercial jobs, and NABCEP requires the 10-hour for PVIP.

    Source: www.osha.gov/training/oshacardfacts

State licensing for 39 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin) is in the credential check, each with the agency and its source. Open the credential check for LED & Solar.

Step 6 · Retain

Where each role goes next.

Candidates ask about the next step in the first conversation, and an employer who can answer it keeps the people who had other options. Say it on day one, too.

  • Solar Photovoltaic Installer

    Installers move to lead and foreman, and the electrical side of the work opens licensure paths.

  • Electrician (LED & Solar)

    Electricians on this work move to foreman or project manager, and NABCEP certification raises their standing on solar jobs.

Take it with you

The LED & Solar guides.

The full interview guide, salary guide and whitepaper for the trade. Each download asks for your email; nothing on this page does.

Questions

Hiring for LED & solar: questions.

What interview questions should I ask when hiring for LED & solar?

My Trade Talent's LED & Solar hiring kit carries three technical questions for each of its 2 roles. For the Solar Photovoltaic Installer, the first is: "How do you attach racking on a membrane roof without voiding the warranty?" The full set, with the signals that separate a strong answer, is on this page and in the interview question bank.

What credentials should I verify when hiring in LED & solar?

The LED & Solar kit lists 4, each with its issuing body and a primary source: NABCEP PV Installation Professional (PVIP), NABCEP PV Associate, NALMCO Certified Apprentice Lighting Technician (CALT) and Certified Senior Lighting Technician (CSLT) and OSHA 10-hour and 30-hour Construction Outreach cards.

What can kill a LED & solar job offer before the start date?

The LED & Solar kit names 4, each sourced: NABCEP is not a licence, and candidates think it is, The electrician licence does not cross the state line, PVIP cannot be earned without an employer and Height is the day-one filter.

What do LED & solar roles pay?

Solar Photovoltaic Installer: $41,600 to $79,970 (BLS 10th to 90th percentile); Electrician (LED & Solar): $42,640 to $108,510 (BLS 10th to 90th percentile). My Trade Talent bands are mid-experience and move with experience and region; BLS figures are national and unadjusted.

How long does it take to hire in LED & solar?

We publish no LED & solar median of our own yet, so this is the all-trades figure: My Trade Talent's median commercial trades hire took 21 days across 88 searches closed in 2026 year to date, counted as calendar days from our first contact with the candidate to the hire.

Trade Talk A monthly hiring brief for commercial trades employers

What changed in your trade this month, and what to do about it.

One email a month, and only one. We write a separate issue for every trade we recruit in, so you get yours - not a round-up with your trade buried in paragraph nine. Every issue is written for the person actually doing the hiring.

  • Where wages moved in your trade, by market, and what that does to your next offer
  • How long roles like yours are taking to fill, and where it is getting worse
  • Interview and screening tactics that are landing candidates this month
  • What contractors competing for the same people are doing differently

Built on federal wage data, our own closed searches, and what we hear on the desk every week. Written for employers, not candidates. No pitch, no filler, one click to leave.

Pick your trade. That is the one issue you get, once a month.

One email a month. Your trade and your address, nothing else - we do not sell either, and you can unsubscribe from the bottom of any issue. Read this month's issue for your trade first →