At Solar & Storage Live London, which took place at ExCeL from 29-30 April, Xtra interviewed Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK.
Chris updated us on the latest from the Solar Taskforce and explained why he thinks attending solar events is important.
Chris Hewett, CEO of Solar Energy UK
“The London event is another opportunity to meet people who perhaps can’t travel to Birmingham, but also perhaps those players who are not part of the solar industry but are interested in what’s going on.”
Xtra: What can we expect from the Solar Taskforce?
Chris: The Solar Task Force has been meeting for around about 12 months now. It’s been a body of industry leaders and some non-industry, such as the networks and the NCS, and the UK infrastructure bank.
We’ve been focusing on three areas primarily. First, it’s grid constraints and trying to ensure that solar can get those grid connections as fast as possible. That’s work in progress; we’re still not there yet but definitely some progress is starting to be made.
We’re looking very heavily at skills issues and how we can recruit the right people into the sector. To make sure that we as an industry train them and make sure those skills are there so that the work is really high quality.
Finally, we’re looking at the supply chain from the UK perspective: how we can try to ensure that as much of the jobs and economic benefits from manufacturing, from construction, and the jobs come into the UK market especially.
Xtra: What are three major opportunities for the UK solar market in the next 12 months?
Chris: The three things we’re looking at are: how fast can we get those grid connections? There is progress, so that’s something we’re looking at very closely.
Also, marketing the sector to the wider economy, in terms of exactly how fast we’re growing and what job opportunities there are, is a real opportunity. We’ll be running a solar careers program to promote that.
The third area looks at the benefits of solar farms, particularly in terms of biodiversity, habitat creation, and integration of solar farms into the rural economy and the benefits that can give to those rural areas.
Xtra: Why is it important to be at Solar & Storage Live London, and why are events like it so important?
Chris: Solar and Storage Live has grown hugely over the last few years. We’re really pleased with the partnership we’ve had with Terrapinn.
The London event is another opportunity to meet people who perhaps can’t travel to Birmingham, but also perhaps those players who are not part of the solar industry but are interested in what’s going on. We are expecting to talk to a lot more of those people during this these two days.
Xtra: What conversations are you excited to have at Solar & Storage Live London?
Chris: One, it’s always fantastic to meet the industry, all of our members, but also potential members. What we’re seeing is fantastic enthusiasm, fantastic growth, and we always learn a lot about what’s happening in the industry from these events. That’s really important.
Two, London will be a place where those players who are interested in Solar, or perhaps want to deploy solar on their buildings or on their land, come to find out a little bit more. We are able to use this as an opportunity to promote the growth of the energy storage and solar sectors to a different audience.
Missed out on Solar & Storage Live London, or want to come back for more? Don’t miss the Birmingham edition from 24-26 September.
