Solar companies among Inc.’s top job creators

Solectria's COO accepts Inc.'s Hire Power AwardInc. Magazine just released its ‘Hire Power’ award winners for 2012, and among the top 100 were a number of solar companies, with SolarCity making the top 10 overall and five solar companies making the top 10 list among all energy companies. It’s the first year for the list and it shows that solar is among the top job creators among small businesses in the U.S.

The entrepreneur- and business-focussed magazine offers business-minded people information, advice, insights and resources to help them build and grow their businesses. In the latest issue, it announced the Hire Power Awards and the 10 biggest job creators in America. “They've created an astounding 33,413 jobs in three years, and top Inc.'s inaugural Hire Power Awards. Some are already well known; others you may not have heard of yet. But together, they are all helping to rebuild the economy and put Americans back to work,” the magazine said.

The only solar company to make the top 10 list was SolarCity. The magazine said that in the past three years the third-party ownership solar installer has 1,381 employees, has created 989 jobs over the past three years and is expected to grow. “Thanks to a partnership with Walmart to install solar units on Walmart stores in California, Colorado, and Arizona, as well as an initiative to provide solar energy to 120,000 military homes, SolarCity’s growing workforce will be kept quite busy for the foreseeable future,” Inc. reported.

SolarCity explained that its employee base grew by more than 252 percent and in 11 states over the three-year period Inc. studied. “SolarCity’s award win shines a light on the whole solar industry which has driven job creation eight times faster than the overall economy,” said SolarCity’s VP of Human Resources, Linda Keala.

The magazine also broke the Hire Power Awards into different business segments and in the Energy sector solar companies were atop and at the bottom of the top 10 list, with the aforementioned SolarCity taking the top spot and Massachusetts-based Solectria Renewables, an inverter manufacturer, taking the bottom spot. Solectria has 122 employees according to the report, with 105 of them being added in the past three years.

Solectria has also grown since the magazine ranked it. It said it now has 160 employees in positions that include engineering, quality, customer service, assembly, administration, sales, marketing and management. “Solectria Renewables is extremely honored to receive this prestigious award from Inc. Magazine,” said Solectria COOAybike Doganci Crott, at an award ceremony. “Solectria Renewables has been profitable for over 6 years, doubling or tripling sales each year.  With this amount of growth, our staff has grown tremendously and we predict this will continue,” she said.

Other solar companies that made the Hire Power top 10 in Energy list are Trinity Solar, Verengo Solar—both installers, and Xtreme Power, which manufactures and operates integrated energy storage and power management systems, for customers from individuals to utilities.