Interview with KT Tan – The Future of the Solar industry
Dr KT Tan, the Chief Technical Officer of Viridian Solar, joins Solar&StorageXtra to discuss Viridian Solar, reducing the risk of Solar PV fire and the future of the Solar industry.
KT began the discussion by highlighting Viridian Solar’s role in manufacturing roof integrated Solar PV systems in the UK. The Clearline Fusion Solar Roofing System is their main product and a market leader in the Solar sector.
In addition to this, KT mentioned Viridian Solar’s ‘ArcBox’ technology has had an ‘award winning’ impact on the Solar industry in pioneering a focus on reducing the risk of Solar PV fire.
‘How do we handle the risk of Solar PV fire?’ is the title of KT’s presentation at Solar and Storage live this year. KT explained, the risk of large-scale Solar PV fire is incredibly small; with it being more dangerous to use your toaster and that cause a fire.
However, risk of Solar PV is an incredibly important issue and just because the risk is so low, that does not mean the Solar industry should become complacent.
With increased demand and deployment of Solar PV, this increases the risk of Solar PV fire. It is important to negate this risk of Solar PV fire before it becomes too big.
Along with negating the risk of Solar PV fire, KT discussed other factors that will shape the future of the Solar industry. KT explained the Solar industry has successfully moved away from the need of subsides, with Solar now being completely ‘self-sufficient’ industry.
‘It has become a no-brainer’ to deploy Solar from micro-generation level all the way to utility scale level. For KT, the main challenge is now ‘How to best use the energy?’, implying we must be more efficient with energy storage processes.
“One hour of solar irradiance on the surface of earth is enough to power the global electricity consumption for one year.” – Dr KT Tan
Dr KT Tan explained that a modernisation of the energy market is needed to embrace new energy storage technologies. However, market modernisation does come with challenges.
The new challenges that could affect the future of the Solar, according to Dr KT Tan, are:
- Geo-political risks
- Avoiding technology stagnation
- Avoiding unhealthy competition
- Carbon footprint
- Look at the recycling issue.
Such risks must be addressed to ensure Solar’s current market growth continues.
You can find Dr KT Tan’s presentation at 10:30 on Day 3 in the Commercial & Industrial Solar theatre at Solar and Storage Live.
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