Solar Photovoltaic Installers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 26% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 27% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 73% of the time, stays with people.
Assemble, install, or maintain solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on roofs or other structures in compliance with site assessment and schematics. May include measuring, cutting, assembling, and bolting structural framing and solar modules. May perform minor electrical work such as current checks.
31,350 people do this job in the US. $53,140 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on11 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people29 h
Solar Photovoltaic Installers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 11 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 29 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Diagram layouts and locations for photovoltaic (PV) arrays and equipment, including existing building or site features (about 2 h); Determine materials, equipment, and installation sequences necessary to maximize installation efficiency (about 2 h); Determine photovoltaic (PV) system designs or configurations based on factors such as customer needs, expectations, and site conditions (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 27%
- 0%
- 73%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 16%. Today's estimate: 26%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.011% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 406th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 26 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.08% to 0.019% (released February and March 2025); 0.043% to 0.038% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.011% to 0.011% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.08% | 201 of 708 | 9 of 26 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.019% | 428 of 703 | 6 of 26 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.043% | 255 of 655 | 3 of 26 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.033% | 308 of 672 | 4 of 26 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.038% | 283 of 677 | 5 of 26 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.011% | 390 of 434 | 1 of 26 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.011% | 406 of 447 | 1 of 26 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 81% of this job's working time as physical work. For 48% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 46% in a purpose-built cell, 3% in any setting. 0.53 of 3, the 300th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 19%
- No robot shown 33%
- In a purpose-built cell 46%
- In any setting 3%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 26 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assemble solar modules, panels, or support structures, as specified.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Sunrise portable solar factory (Charge Robotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Install photovoltaic (PV) systems in accordance with codes and standards, using drawings, schematics, and instructions.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 3.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Install active solar systems, including solar collectors, concentrators, pumps, or fans.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Maximo (AES-incubated solar installation robot) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Install module array interconnect wiring, implementing measures to disable arrays during installation.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Eureka Robotics force-controlled connector insertion (Eureka Controller + Eureka 3D Camera) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Diagram layouts and locations for photovoltaic (PV) arrays and equipment, including existing building or site features.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Determine photovoltaic (PV) system designs or configurations based on factors such as customer needs, expectations, and site conditions.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | 91%Half by now | |
| Determine materials, equipment, and installation sequences necessary to maximize installation efficiency.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Identify installation locations with proper orientation, area, solar access, or structural integrity for photovoltaic (PV) arrays.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in any setting, Eagleview Assess (with Skydio House Scan drones) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Apply weather sealing to array, building, or support mechanisms.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Identify methods for laying out, orienting, and mounting modules or arrays to ensure efficient installation, electrical configuration, or system maintenance.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Examine designs to determine current requirements for all parts of the photovoltaic (PV) system electrical circuit.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Check electrical installation for proper wiring, polarity, grounding, or integrity of terminations.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Ecoprogetti solar module production line / ECOHI-POT in-line hi-pot tester (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Solar Photovoltaic Installers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 26% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 27% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Solar Photovoltaic Installers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Diagram layouts and locations for photovoltaic (PV) arrays and equipment, including existing building or site features (100% of the task's time now); Determine materials, equipment, and installation sequences necessary to maximize installation efficiency (100% of the task's time now); and Determine photovoltaic (PV) system designs or configurations based on factors such as customer needs, expectations, and site conditions (91% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Solar Photovoltaic Installers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Assemble solar modules, panels, or support structures, as specified; Install photovoltaic (PV) systems in accordance with codes and standards, using drawings, schematics, and instructions; and Install active solar systems, including solar collectors, concentrators, pumps, or fans. Together such tasks are about 73% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Solar Photovoltaic Installers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.011% went to this job's tasks, the 406th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 26 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Solar Photovoltaic Installers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 81% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 48% of the working time, 3% in any setting. Its index is 0.53 of 3. One example: Eagleview Assess (with Skydio House Scan drones) for "identify installation locations with proper orientation, area, solar access, or structural integrity for photovoltaic (pv) arrays". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 26 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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