Exclusive: Texas clean energy jobs can be dirty business for a precarious workforce, new research shows
August 21, 2024
As Texas’ solar energy industry booms, thousands of workers across the state roast in the pounding sun each day to hoist 50-pound solar panels into place, often with no breaks.
On especially hot days, the laborers start to drop.
“The sun is too strong, they collapse or feel sick and then the bosses kick them out for good,” said Francisco, a worker who has helped construct solar farms across Texas since 2019.
The 30-year-old Cuban spoke to the Houston Chronicle on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, but his experiences are echoed in the first major study surveying clean energy construction and manufacturing workers in the state, released to the Chronicle on Friday.