Ghana’s solar transition is creating jobs, but employment growth alone does not guarantee decent work. Workers also need safe conditions, social protection, a voice in workplace decisions, and opportunities to develop skills and progress into better-paid roles. This factsheet examines how Ghana can connect solar deployment with stronger domestic firms, better employment, and sustainable livelihoods.
Drawing on research into Ghana’s solar photovoltaic sector, including a survey of 16 firms, the factsheet highlights how industry structure shapes job quality. Domestic firms are generally small and concentrated in downstream activities, including sales, distribution, system design, installation, and maintenance. Uneven project demand makes it difficult to sustain employment and training between contracts.
A workforce divided by job security
The research identifies a two-tier workforce. Relatively stable teams undertake engineering, business development, project management, and other continuous functions. Installation and site-based workers face more flexible arrangements tied to changing workloads. Just over half of the surveyed firms adjusted staffing as workloads changed.
Training is commonly provided as needed, with few firms offering formal programmes. Some employers hesitate to invest because trained workers may leave. Without recognised qualifications and clear progression routes, workers can struggle to move beyond basic installation into more specialised or supervisory roles.
Access to better jobs is also unequal. In 88% of surveyed firms, women made up less than half of the workforce. Women were particularly underrepresented in technical, engineering, supervisory, and managerial positions, which offer stronger prospects for skills development and higher earnings.
Labour protection must accompany industry development
Solar installation involves electrical hazards and work at height. Interviews identified uneven safety practices, including workers supplying their own protective equipment. Although these findings do not establish how widespread such practices are, they indicate weaknesses in enforcing safety standards.
The factsheet also highlights gaps in licensing, certification, practical training, and worker representation. Structural constraints may help explain poor working conditions, but they do not justify them.
Four priorities for better solar jobs
The factsheet proposes four connected priorities:
- Create predictable solar demand. Coordinated, published deployment plans covering several years would help firms retain workers, invest in training, and sustain technical teams.
- Develop domestic suppliers. Target finance, technical assistance, testing, and certification towards products and services Ghanaian firms can realistically supply, including mounting structures, cables, packaging, and technical services.
- Build recognised career pathways. Develop portable competencies across installation, maintenance, system design, storage, and related functions. Shared apprenticeships and training can spread costs across firms.
- Raise labour standards alongside firm capability. Link public procurement and support to requirements covering safety, contracts, social protection, non-discrimination, and training, while helping smaller firms comply.
Ghana already has policies addressing renewable energy, enterprise development, skills, employment, and gender inclusion. Connecting these policies can help ensure that solar expansion delivers stronger local businesses, effective worker protection, and better jobs.
About the project
This publication is an output of Advancing a Just Energy Transition: Localisation, Decent Work, and Sustainable Livelihoods, a multi-country research project examining the energy sectors of Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa in the context of global decarbonisation. The project investigates how localisation, decent work, gender equity, SMME participation, and sustainable livelihoods can be embedded in renewable energy production networks to strengthen local manufacturing and avoid reproducing unequal global economic patterns.