{"id":411326,"date":"2026-08-19T23:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T23:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/411326\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T23:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T23:52:10","slug":"advanced-manufacturing-is-expanding-in-houston-and-its-leading-to-hundreds-of-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/411326\/","title":{"rendered":"Advanced manufacturing is expanding in Houston and it’s leading to hundreds of jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Growth in solar manufacturing is creating hundreds of jobs in the Houston area, but industry experts say companies face challenges finding qualified candidates.<\/p>\n

At SEG Solar in Cypress, company leaders said they can produce upwards of 70,000 panels a day. Demand, they say, is driven by higher gas prices, prompting people to buy solar panels to power EVs and data centers moving into Texas.<\/p>\n

“These facilities need a lot of power, and they need it quickly, and solar is the way they can accomplish part of their power needs,” SEG Solar CEO Jim Wood explained.<\/p>\n

To keep up with demand, SEG Solar opened a new facility in Tomball and plans to open another nearby next year. Facilities are looking for hundreds of workers.<\/p>\n

One of them is Ailen Alvarez, who walked into SEG’s solar manufacturing facility unsure what to make of it. “I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t know anything about this,” Alvarez recalled. “I don’t know anything about solar panels.”<\/p>\n

Two years later, she’s not only learned a lot about panels but is now the training supervisor, educating others. “I did not think I would be in this position,” Alvarez said.<\/p>\n

Local economic leaders say the growing demand for solar panels is creating opportunities. And it’s not just at this plant.<\/p>\n

Tesla is eyeing a Fort Bend County location that the company claims could bring ten thousand jobs, according to records filed with the state. The Greater Houston Partnership<\/a> said last month solar companies in Humble and Brookshire are looking to expand and hire hundreds more.<\/p>\n

Texas Jobs Council member Lacy Wolfe said for decades these companies went overseas. However, he said many of them are coming back, or starting in our region.<\/p>\n

“They can do it quicker, faster, easier, and a better product because of the types of technologies we have now,” Wolfe explained.<\/p>\n

Wolfe said if you’re interested in the industry, an engineering degree could help. However, with companies looking to hire thousands, he said you may not need that much education, just a desire to work with your hands.<\/p>\n

SEG Solar said that’s the case there. “Some of them, there’s no education needed other than a high school diploma that’s needed, or any experience at all,” SEG Solar HR manager Amy Quinones said.<\/p>\n

An industry Workforce Solutions principal economist says it grew by 44% last year, pays $18 an hour, and could climb to more than $60. Growth Alvarez knows firsthand, which is why she said it’s worth taking a shot even if you don’t have much experience.<\/p>\n

“I’m filled with a lot of knowledge about solar panels now, and I feel like I can train a lot of new employees that walk in here,” Alvarez said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, our ABC13 Who’s Hiring Job Fair will dive deeper into this topic on our 24\/7 stream starting at 8 a.m. We also have a way for you to get one of these jobs or a job in another industry.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Aug. 20, Workforce Solutions is hosting an in-person job fair at its Northline career office, 4424 North Freeway, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Growth in solar manufacturing is creating hundreds of jobs in the Houston area, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[143609,56,58,57],"class_list":["post-411326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-143609","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}