Solar or HVAC Career? (I have to choose for tech school training starting in a month)

If you want to work outdoors, HVAC, If you want indoor, Solar installs now, sales in couple years. With the tax breaks fading away, sales will be tougher.

Life is a balancing act. As far as what you do with about half your waking hours, the balance is making enough $$ to support your lifestyle choices with being happy in how you make that $$.

1.) Think long term and strategically. Do what makes you happy and fulfilled for a job. Get good at it, and as long as there is a demand for what you do, the money will follow.

2.) Not entirely, but the more your job skills and chosen field have a sustained demand, the more secure will be your future ability to support your lifestyle. That can and does usually mean, among other things, job skills that are applicable to different fields as demands and society change. At this time, the future for solar, residential PV in particular, is not as bright as a few years ago and the future is not looking all that good either.

Between HVAC and solar, the products overlap some, but looking to the future, HVAC demand will probably be a lot more steady. Solar is the treehugger and media darling now, but its star seems to be fading as gov. subsidies and net metering are drying up. HVAC is less dependent on gov./outside support and more dependent of people's comfort levels (which don't change as much).

I'd bank on people's need/desire for environmental comfort more than gov. subsidies when it comes to a secure and fulfilling future.

3.) Sales people are always in demand in just about any field.The trick is to be a salesperson and not an order taker.

If you choose sales, study and learn about human nature and what motivates people, and try to keep your integrity. Also learn to deal with rejection. You'll fail to be successful about 90 % of the time but you'll have more control of your destiny. Life is a balancing act.

Take what you want of the above. Scrap the rest.

Solar is a Fad and fast fading. HVAC is here to stay.Now if you want Solar in your toolbox for side work, then become a licensed Electrician. When there is no Solar Work left, you got your bread and butter being a Electrician which is always in demand.

With your background in computers (whatever that may be), you may also want to consider HVAC controls.

I work for a mechanical contractor and good HVAC techs are getting harder to find (most of the good ones are retiring) - if you have decent troubleshooting skills and are able to complete work in a timely manner, then you will find steady work. If you can communicate well and write decent paperwork, then you will always have work and will be gold to a company. If you are looking at the trade unions, be sure to look into how well their pension is doing - some are in bad shape and the unions are getting desperate and letting anybody in which really hurts the trade (and the retirement of those depending on it).

Yes, there are a number of possibilities here. HVAC is certainly one. But if you're interested in the trades why not be an electrician or plumber. Likely better money. Can't comment on the pension -- your likely better off managing your own retirement funds in a personal account.

But as Philips points out, there is a significant need for building automation system "programmers." It's not really programming per se, rather you configure the Andover or Honeywell application to communicate with the connected HVAC, electrical, and plumbing hardware over Ethernet, BACNet, contact closure, etc. Kind of like a big "LabView" Erector set. Then you setup thresholds and control loops, etc. to turn this on when that happens, lower this if that is too high, etc.




But, if you really want to be outside (not me) than more power to you. But I agree with SunKing, solar is a Fad. If you really like solar and renewable power, as I do, then you could become an electrician, work on solar systems for a few years and then move on when you get tired of it or it starts to peter out.

-Jonathan

Both solar and HVAC offer exciting opportunities, but if you're passionate about solar and believe it's part of the future, it could be a fantastic choice. Solar installation experience can definitely enhance your sales skills down the road.
While HVAC might have more immediate job availability, consider the long-term potential and growth in the solar industry. As for sun exposure, taking necessary precautions like wearing protective gear can help mitigate concerns about UV radiation.
By the way, I'm currently in between jobs and exploring new possibilities. Also, during my online browsing, I stumbled upon Sarkari Yojana List, a helpful resource that provides information on government schemes in India. It might have useful insights related to your career options. Just thought I'd mention it!

As a retired union electrician, I'd pick the HVAC over solar any day of the week. As a solar technician you'll learn all the skills within a week (it is all about just bolting panels to a rack and plugging the mating cords together.) The slightly more involved electric connections to the grid will be subbed out to someone like me with a license while you go to the next job humping panels to the roof then bolting them down. So much more to learn and do in the HVAC field.

good luck in your job quest

Both will be in demand for a long, long time. In both cases, education is key. NABCEP certification, for example, will open doors for you in the solar field.

Seeing what I've seen and knowing what I think I might know, seems to me being a journeyman electrician that did a lot of HVAC electrical could be rewarding while picking up PV knowledge as a side hustle. Lots of rewards and job security to boot.

IMHO, HVAC is the way to go. Solar tends to be plug and play while HVAC requires diagnostic skills that are hard to replace with tech. As the world warms, the demand for HVAC is growing. HVAC used to be seasonal to some extent, but with the wholesale conversion of the US residential and commercial heating to predominantly heat pump technology, its going to be busy year round.

Don't forget that to run that HVAC equipment you will require electricity which shows a need for electricians along with HVAC techs

As I wrote, a journeyman electrician who specializes or centers around HVAC and knows how the PV game is run.
More work than one can handle and mental stimulation are 2 possible outcomes.
There are worse ways to spend a life.

I agree with you. I just wanted to press home that knowledge to peakbagger

The OP didnt ask about being an electrician, so I didnt give an opinion on electrical.

Since I am in New England, electricians need licenses in all the surrounding states with fairly steep apprenticeship requirements for being a journeyman and ultimately a master. Most electrical firms know that and take advantage of apprentices. I know several folks who went through that game and starved for a few years until they got enough hours to go journeyman. HVAC is not a licensed trade in many states so it is a lot faster progression to a living wage Code requires a disconnect within site of the equipment so the HVAC techs can work back to the disconnect. Maine, NH and VT tend to be non union shops and the little union work that gets done are usually folks from Mass that can work in other states through comity rules. Mass on the other hand had for many years a very corrupt electrical trade, the only way someone got in the program was through a family connection or bribing someone to get in the program. They also had their hands in the licensing boards, I know someone with 10,000 hours that was perfectly legit in three states that was not legit as the hours in Mass had to be submitted on a union developed form. Folks with documentation other than the Mass form would in theory have to go to every employer they ever worked for and have the employer re-certifiy the hours.

IMHO based on my area, the HVAC trade seems to be better way to get up to good living wage faster than going through the electrical apprenticeship. Maine at least will waive some hours for folks who went throgh a community college program but Mass of course will not accept it. I knew a Master in Maine who had to work as an apprentice in Mass due to all the licensing BS.