As Congress looks to put Americans back to work in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the clean energy economy offers an enormous opportunity. Clean energy industries such as solar were among the fastest-growing sectors of the economy before the pandemic hit, with significant potential to create new jobs and spur the investments that are needed to put the U.S. back on track.

Over the last five years, the U.S. solar industry added jobs at a rate 5 times higher than the national average, employing 250,000 Americans at the end of 2019. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, solar was on track to add 100,000 workers this year. Instead, the industry has lost more than 70,000 jobs since late February. With the right policies in place, the solar industry is poised to put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work.