LED & Solar recruiters serving Denver.
About 280 solar photovoltaic installers work in the Denver metro, at a $53,140 median. BLS counts 482 business locations of nonresidential electrical contractors across the metro. Below: local pay for every role we staff and the state licensing rules that apply.
Positions we recruit for in Denver.
BLS counts about 11,790 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Denver metro, the largest group being electricians (about 10,450). Relative to the size of the local economy, solar photovoltaic installers are less concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 0.88). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the LED & Solar hub.
Solar PV Installer
Denver: 280 employed · $53,140 median, 23rd-highest of 39 metros
NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician
Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician
Denver: 10,450 employed · $63,150 median, 53rd-highest of 112 metros
Solar Electrician
Solar Project Manager
O*NET 47-1011.03 - Solar Energy Installation Managers, a Bright Outlook occupation; wage data rolls up to the parent 47-1011 group
Solar Estimator/Designer
Denver: 3,690 employed · $89,820 median, 7th-highest of 111 metros
Energy Auditor/Efficiency Consultant
O*NET 47-4011.01 - Energy Auditors; building energy assessments that often lead into LED retrofit and solar scoping
Solar O&M Technician
Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)
Denver: 11,780 employed · $83,400 median, 31st-highest of 112 metros
Low-Voltage/Controls Technician
Denver: 1,060 employed · $80,440 median, 17th-highest of 107 metros
Hiring the same trade in another market? We recruit it in Des Moines, IA, Detroit, MI, Durham-Chapel Hill, NC too.
What LED & Solar roles earn in Denver.
Solar photovoltaic installers in Denver earn a median $53,140, level with the $53,140 national figure, and 23rd of 39 metros. Pay runs $45,930 at the tenth percentile to $80,800 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment, at $80,440 against $74,090 nationally.
| Role | Denver median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar PV Installer · NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician · Energy Auditor/Efficiency Consultant O*NET 47-4011.01 - Energy Auditors; building energy assessments that often lead into LED retrofit and solar scoping Solar O&M TechnicianSolar Photovoltaic Installers (47-2231) | $53,140 | $45,930–$80,800 | $53,140 | 0% | 280 |
| Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician · Solar ElectricianElectricians (47-2111) | $63,150 | $46,070–$94,160 | $63,190 | 0% | 10,450 |
| Solar Project Manager O*NET 47-1011.03 - Solar Energy Installation Managers, a Bright Outlook occupation; wage data rolls up to the parent 47-1011 group Solar Estimator/DesignerCost Estimators (13-1051) | $89,820 | $59,800–$135,230 | $78,740 | +14% | 3,690 |
| Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $83,400 | $61,540–$126,010 | $79,920 | +4% | 11,780 |
| Low-Voltage/Controls TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $80,440 | $54,950–$104,000 | $74,090 | +9% | 1,060 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Denver metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile; management and office roles are metro-wide. A metro ranking counts only the metros where BLS publishes that occupation.
How Denver's LED & solar market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential electrical contractors in Denver rose from 436 in 2018 to 482 in 2023, up 11%, ahead of the 6% national rise. Headcount at those firms went up 17%, to about 11,374 people. Average annual pay there went from $67,753 to $82,763 (+22%), in step with the 21% national increase.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: business locations | 436 | 482 | +11% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: employment | 9,745 | 11,374 | +17% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: average annual pay | $67,753 | $82,763 | +22% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Free LED & Solar hiring resources.
Definitive Guide to LED & Solar · 2026 LED & Solar Salary Guide · 3-Step Interview Guide for LED & Solar
Denver runs 12% fewer LED and solar workers per job than the country as a whole — below the national concentration. Fewer per job means the people you want are already working, and usually for someone who would rather keep them.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 , Solar Photovoltaic Installers (nearest published occupation for this trade). Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Denver's LED and solar market compares
Among the 37 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Denver ranks 17th for headcount, 21st for median pay and 27th for concentration for solar photovoltaic installers.
What this means for hiring:For LED and solar employers in Denver, the local pool is thin but growing. Expect a mix of local candidates and people recruited in from nearby metros, and budget for relocation on senior roles.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Denver metro. Employers are counted by business location.
LED & Solar licensing in Colorado.
The State Electrical Board regulates electricians and electrical contractors statewide, and its rules require a permit for solar and other power-generating systems. State law (C.R.S. 40-2-128) sets on-site supervision and ratio rules for PV installations and requires licensed electricians for AC-side work.
Licensing authority: Colorado State Electrical Board. Confirm current rules with the agency.
What else is competing for Denver crews.
Not LED & solar work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Denver in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Front Range data center campuses (multiple operators)Announced 2024-2026Rolling
Colorado has become a growing secondary data center market. Power-systems electricians, switchgear specialists, and mechanical PMs with cooling experience are in extreme demand.
- Denver International Airport (DEN) - Great Hall + gate expansions$2B+ programMulti-year, ongoing through 2028
Concourse gate additions and the Great Hall renovation drive sustained mechanical, electrical, and specialty finish demand. Phased work means rolling crew needs across trades.
- National Western Center redevelopment (Denver)$1B+ campus programPhased through late 2020s
Large mixed-use civic/agricultural campus. Steel erection, MEP, and heavy sitework crews in steady demand across multiple building phases.
Showing 3 of 6 projects tracked in this metro. The Denver market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for LED & solar, and what kills offers in Denver.
The 4 credentials that gate the work and the 4 things that most often end an LED & solar offer are the same in every market, kept in one place: LED & Solar credentials and offer risks, each linked to the body that issues it. What is local is the licensing rule above and the pay further up this page.
Frequently asked - LED & Solar hiring in Denver.
What do solar photovoltaic installers earn in Denver?
BLS puts the Denver median for solar photovoltaic installers at $53,140 a year, about the same as the $53,140 national median. That ranks 23rd of 39 metros with published figures, in the middle of the pack. Most of the market sits between $45,930 and $80,800, a 1.8x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience.
Is it hard to hire solar photovoltaic installers in Denver?
It is about average. Solar photovoltaic installers are as common in Denver as they are nationally (location quotient 0.88), with about 280 in the metro. The 482 nonresidential electrical contractors here average about 24 employees per location. With 11% more of those firms than in 2018, more employers are competing for the same crews.
Which LED & solar roles pay the most in Denver?
Of the roles we recruit for, Solar Project Manager O*NET 47-1011.03 - Solar Energy Installation Managers, a Bright Outlook occupation; wage data rolls up to the parent 47-1011 group Solar Estimator/Designer pays the most in Denver, a $89,820 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Low-Voltage/Controls Technician at $80,440, 10% below it. Solar PV Installer is the lowest-paid field role at $53,140. Relative to national pay, Solar Project Manager O*NET 47-1011.03 - Solar Energy Installation Managers, a Bright Outlook occupation; wage data rolls up to the parent 47-1011 group Solar Estimator/Designer is the strongest-paying role here (14% above).
How many nonresidential electrical contractors operate in Denver?
BLS counted 482 nonresidential electrical contractors in Denver in 2023, employing about 11,374 people between them. Up from 436 in 2018, a 11% increase against 6% growth nationally. That averages 24 people per location. They pay about the national average of $84,633. BLS counts commercial solar and LED retrofit firms under nonresidential electrical contractors.
Can Denver employers recruit solar photovoltaic installers from nearby metros?
Not easily. None of the other metros we cover within 300 miles of Denver has published BLS figures for solar photovoltaic installers, so a search here mostly has to be won locally or by relocating someone from farther away.
We have not closed a LED & solar search in Denver yet. Here is what we have closed.
These are other trades in the same market. We would rather show you the searches we have actually run in Denver than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- Commercial HVAC Service TechnicianA millwright who also runs commercial HVAC - four days to hire.
The seat is open. The pipeline should not be.
482 nonresidential electrical contractors in Denver are drawing on the same 280 solar photovoltaic installers. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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