What You'll Do

  • Design active direct or indirect, passive direct or indirect, or pool solar systems.
  • Perform routine maintenance or repairs to restore solar thermal systems to baseline operating conditions.
  • Apply operation or identification tags or labels to system components, as required.
  • Assess collector sites to ensure structural integrity of potential mounting surfaces or the best orientation and tilt for solar collectors.
  • Connect water heaters and storage tanks to power and water sources.
  • Determine locations for installing solar subsystem components, including piping, water heaters, valves, and ancillary equipment.
  • Fill water tanks and check tanks, pipes, and fittings for leaks.
  • Identify plumbing, electrical, environmental, or safety hazards associated with solar thermal installations.
  • Install circulating pumps using pipe, fittings, soldering equipment, electrical supplies, and hand tools.
  • Install copper or plastic plumbing using pipes, fittings, pipe cutters, acetylene torches, solder, wire brushes, sand cloths, flux, plastic pipe cleaners, or plastic glue.

Essential Skills

Installation 4.75/5
Reading Comprehension 3.38/5
Quality Control Analysis 3.38/5
Active Listening 3.25/5
Speaking 3.25/5
Critical Thinking 3.25/5
Monitoring 3.25/5
Operations Monitoring 3.25/5
Troubleshooting 3.12/5
Judgment and Decision Making 3.12/5
Time Management 3.12/5
Active Learning 3.0/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to sense whether the day to day rhythm and focus of this path line up with what energizes you.

Top passions

  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.
  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.

Common styles

Attention to Detail, Dependability, Integrity, Cooperation, Adaptability/Flexibility

Want a personal read on fit. Take the free assessment and see your exact compatibility with this career and many related roles.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Comprehension 3.62/5
Near Vision 3.5/5
Speech Recognition 3.5/5
Written Comprehension 3.38/5
Oral Expression 3.38/5
Problem Sensitivity 3.38/5
Extent Flexibility 3.38/5
Information Ordering 3.25/5

Technologies & Tools

1CadCam Unigraphics Adobe Photoshop Autodesk AutoCAD Computer-aided drafting or design software Cost estimating software Dassault Systemes CATIA Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Inventory control system software Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office software Microsoft Outlook Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBA Microsoft Word National Instruments LabVIEW Oracle Java Project management software PTC Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire Salesforce software Word processing software

Work Environment & Style

Common Styles for This Career

  • Attention to Detail (High importance: 4.68/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.65/5)
  • Integrity (High importance: 4.54/5)
  • Cooperation (High importance: 4.43/5)
  • Adaptability/Flexibility (High importance: 4.4/5)

Want to see how YOUR work style matches this career?

Take Free 15-Min Assessment →

How to Become One

This career typically requires vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Some specialized training or certification may also be required.

Similar Careers to Explore

Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Heat Exchanger Installer Solar Boilers Technician Solar Energy Technician Solar Hot Water Installer (SHW Installer) Solar Installation Technician Solar Installer Solar Insulation Technician Solar Maintenance Technician Solar Pool Heating Installer Solar Power Installer Solar System Installer Solar Technician Solar Thermal Installer Solar Thermal Technician Solar Water Heater Installer Thermal Operator Thermal Systems Technician Thermal Technician