Skills gap leads solar firms to outsource maintenance needs

Research from Fluke has found that 55% of surveyed OEMs, technicians, and installers are outsourcing most of their solar equipment maintenance, attributing this shift to a lack of specialised skills and resources within their organisations.

The survey, which included more than 400 industry professionals from the UK, Germany, Spain, and the United States, exposes regional differences in both current and future approaches to solar maintenance. In the UK, 48% of companies currently outsource their solar maintenance, compared to 58% in Germany, 54% in the US, and 54% in Spain.

Looking ahead, the trend of outsourcing is expected to continue growing, according to respondents. In Spain and Germany, nearly 90% of surveyed organisations anticipate continuing to rely on external solar maintenance providers. In the US, this figure stands at 71%, while the UK trails at 58%.

The survey indicates a widespread and growing skills gap as a significant barrier to developing in-house maintenance expertise. The finding exemplifies that 30% of companies admit their maintenance strategy is either reactive or lacking altogether.

Alex Chillman, Vice President of Innovation at Fluke, commented on the findings: "This survey clearly exposes the global skill and resource gaps in solar maintenance, underscoring a critical challenge for the industry. Outsourcing maintenance has become the norm, and our findings show that this trend is not only widespread but set to continue as the preferred approach for the majority of companies. What stands out is the strategic divergence between countries, each adopting different models for maintaining solar infrastructure.

"This underscores the need for a region-specific, forward-thinking approach to talent development and resource allocation, focusing on streamlining workflows for maintenance staff and supporting the growth of new technicians as they progress in skills and specialisation."

Nearly 60% of respondents believe that upskilling technicians to use advanced diagnostic tools is the top priority for reducing downtime and improving operational reliability. More than half (53%) of surveyed companies identified predictive maintenance as a solution, while just under half prioritised on-site diagnostics and optimising data collection tools.

Survey data reveals regional differences in priorities. In the UK, 56% of respondents consider improving data collection protocols to be the most important step towards reducing downtime, with technician training following closely at 52%. Conversely, in the US, 60% favour technician training and 46% focus on data collection. German companies place the least emphasis on data collection protocols, with just 38% ranking it as a key issue.

The survey sample comprised 45.6% technicians, 36.5% OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), and a remaining proportion of installers. US-based participants accounted for 63% of responses, while just over 12% each came from the UK, Germany, and Spain. Companies employing 100 to 249 people made up the largest single group at 33%, followed by 25% with 50 to 99 employees and 21% with 250 to 500 staff. The remaining respondents were distributed evenly between organisations with up to 49 or more than 500 employees.

The findings illustrate ongoing challenges as the solar industry continues to grow and evolve, presenting both operational and workforce development issues for companies in multiple regions.