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Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians vs Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians and Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$62,970
$59,810
Employment · BLS OEWS
455,940
396,870
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
20th pct
37th pct

At a glance

Dimension Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
Median pay $62,970 $59,810
Employment 455,940 396,870
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+4.5%) Growing fast (+8.1%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 44,000 40,100
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 20th pct Moderate · 37th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 18th pct · 15% of tasks 36th pct · 21% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Installation, Mechanical, Building and Construction, Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Engineering and Technology, Design, Public Safety and Security, Oral Comprehension, Computers and Electronics, Near Vision, Reading Comprehension, Quality Control Analysis, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Extent Flexibility, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Operations Monitoring, Information Ordering, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Visual Color Discrimination, Speech Clarity, Troubleshooting, Judgment and Decision Making, Visualization, Finger Dexterity, Active Learning.

Specific to Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians

  • Education and Training
  • Production and Processing
  • Speech Recognition
  • Administration and Management
  • Written Comprehension
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Selective Attention
  • Time Management

Specific to Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

  • Deductive Reasoning
  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Manual Dexterity
  • Repairing
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Category Flexibility
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Physics

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Office suite software , Graphics or photo imaging software , Computer aided design CAD software , Spreadsheet software , Electronic mail software , Presentation software , Word processing software , Customer relationship management CRM software .

Specific to Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians

Specific to Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians or Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians vs Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/solar-thermal-installers-and-technicians-vs-heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians vs Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/solar-thermal-installers-and-technicians-vs-heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-solar-thermal-installers-and-technicians-vs-heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers,
  title  = {Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians vs Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/solar-thermal-installers-and-technicians-vs-heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.