Solar power boosted employment in California last year, a new report shows

Solar PowerSolar power boosted employment in California last year, a new report shows.

Employment in the sector rose 38 percent from 2014, according to data from the Solar Jobs Census, released by the Solar Foundation, a nonprofit.

The growth represented more than half of all solar jobs created across the country, reported the Sacramento Business Journal.

The source attributed the employment increase to falling installation costs and a state energy requirement that by 2030, all utility companies must get half of their total power from renewable sources.

In November 2015, some 75,598 were employed by the solar energy industry in California, which was an increase of 21,000 from the year prior, KQED News reported. Nationally, 208,859 people worked in solar power in November of last year.

Experts predict that an additional 14,000 people will work in solar energy in California in 2016.

The source reported that last year, solar power became the primary source of renewable energy in the state for the first time ever. In November 2015, California generated nearly half the total solar power created nationally, with the state producing nearly 12,000 megawatts of power.