Solar and Storage Live 2023: The Biggest Yet!
Solar and Storage Live 2023 came to a close on the 19th of October and it was the largest Solar and Storage Live by far!
Solar and Storage Live this year registered over 15,000 attendees, 400 exhibitors and 400 speakers making this year’s event the biggest and best on record.
Like the Solar industry in general, business was booming at Solar and Storage Live this year. Alongside the exhibition, 2023’s conference involved a lot of important discussions that focused on allowing the Solar and Storage industry to learn from each other and take the industry to the next level.
The opening keynote by the Rt Hon Graham Stuart, Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Chris Hewett, Chief Executive of Solar Energy UK, discussed the creation of the UK’s Solar Taskforce and how this will assist the growth of Solar Generation in the UK.
The main objective of the Solar Taskforce is to finalise the roadmap to achieve the government and industry target of 70GwH of Solar capacity in the UK by 2035.
“The UK’s Solar Taskforce is a genuinely joint government-industry initiative co-chaired by myself and Graham Stuart. It has eight different members from the Solar Industry, also the UK Infrastructure Bank, the Energy Networks Association and MCS. The right people in the room. We’re going to release a report in the Spring 2024 and that will set the scene for what this government and future governments will do to deliver Solar.” – Chris Hewett, Chief Executive, Solar Energy UK
Across the three days, it was clear that genuine collaboration is the key for, not only Solar targets to be achieved but, Net Zero targets to be achieved on the whole.
An immediate emphasis by Chris and Graham on the importance of collaboration presented a willingness by both government and industry to achieve 2050 Net Zero targets.
One of the key topic points discussed at Solar and Storage Live was ‘how are we going to increase Solar capacity to 70GwH by 2035?’
One key solution to this is changing the way we look at recruitment in the in the industry. At Solar and Storage Live this year Solar Energy UK, in association with SSE Renewables, launched the recruitment zone; a purpose-built stage attracting new job candidates into the Solar and Storage industry.
Sturge Mazzocchi, Head of Partnerships & Business Development for Solar Energy UK, was at the forefront of the recruitment zone where 100 job vacancies were available to candidates wanting to enter the industry or wanting a change of role within the renewable energy space.
Sturge explained the importance of initiatives like the recruitment zone are to keep up with the rising demand for Solar in the UK. With the demand for Solar generation increasing, the industry will also grow, leading to the need of a larger Solar and Storage workforce. The recruitment zone helped highlight the challenge of filling the new roles in Solar and offered these new roles directly to aspiring candidates.
“The reason why we have done it is because the Solar and battery industries are two that are booming, they are also stretching. They are reaching or exceeding the capacity of their workforce that is needed to meet the high growth demands of Solar. If we don’t put something like the recruitment zone on, what is there to accommodate the need for higher employment?” – Sturge Mazzocchi, Head of Partnerships & Business Development for Solar Energy UK
Along with the recruitment zone being a key talking point of Solar and Storage Live this year, the future of the industry was also important to our attendees.
Diversity, inclusion and implementing best practise when hiring into the industry is particularly important when discussing the future Solar, as is allowing these new individuals in the industry to have a platform to become a future leader.
Georgina Worrall, the Head of POWERful Women, explained that the ‘Race to Net Zero’ report, co-created by POWERful Women and National Grid, highlighted that by 2050 the industry will need 400,000 more jobs to meet the capacity of the energy transition. Of these 400,000 jobs, 260,000 do not currently exist and the remaining 160,000 will be those leaving the industry.
Hiring a new, inclusive and diverse workforce is of paramount importance to reaching Net Zero. The industry cannot be stuck in its ways, hiring the same people for the same roles. What the industry must do is increase the level of diversity and create a more inclusive workforce in the renewable energy space. Only then will the capacity for the workforce be reached.
The CEO of MCS, Ian Rippin, added to the recruitment discussion by highlighting the importance of encouraging the next generation of leaders within the renewable energy space. MCS are a part of ‘The Future Leaders’ programme that is in place to identify the specific skills in ‘high potential individuals’ and provide them with a platform to potentially become an industry leader within the renewable energy space.
Ian highlighted the fact that many of the industry leaders in the renewable energy industry may not be in their position when the UK reaches net zero in 2050; ‘The Future Leaders’ programme will aim to fill these positions and encourage highly skilled individuals to take up new leadership roles.
“The Future Leaders Programme is about establishing skills… leadership skills in high potential individuals who we know will be leading the organisations I’ve mentioned (MCS, Solar Energy UK). You can learn how to be a leader and create that capacity for leadership; that is what the programme is about, giving back to the industry… and allow them to make the best contribution they can.” – Ian Rippin, CEO, MCS
These were just some of the topics discussed at Solar and Storage Live this year, all interviews from a variety of attendees can be found on the Solar and Storage Live YouTube channel!
To be a part of Solar and Storage Live London, Birmingham, Zurich or Barcelona please contact Tom Moon,
See you all in Solar and Storage Live London, April 29-30 2024!
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Our next event is Solar and Storage Live London, April 29-30 2024!
To enquire about interviews, submit news and press releases please contact our Editor, Regan Slaymaker, regan.slaymaker@terrapinn.com.
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