Solar UK Conference 2013 a great success
The annual Solar UK Conference, organised by Solar UK Magazine and held at the Building Research Establishment (BFRE)'s campus North of London, saw a packed event that highlighted the continued strength of the UK solar and PV industries. The event was attended by 165 individuals representing 95 companies from 15 countries around the world. The attendees were treated to a full programme of informative and detailed material that covered the entire value chain and provided key evidence that the UK solar and PV industry continues from strength to strength.
The keynote speaker, and many would say highlight of the day, was Dr. Richard Cave head of Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) Solar Strategy division. In short Dr Cave leads the team that is devising and writing the government's policies on solar energy. A humorous and engaging speaker, Dr. Cave highlighted the difference between some of the negative media coverage and the actual facts of solar acceptance in the UK. He pointed out that opinion polling has PV consistently above the 80% mark. Dr. Cave pointed out that the 20GW by 2020 is not so much a rule as an aspiration and stated the sobering reality that the UK can only implement 10 GW of new PV into the current grid structure. Without significant investment the country can not achieve 20 GW regardless of aspirations and industry capabilities.
Jonathan Selwyn, Managing Director of Lark Energy continued the theme of grid limitations in his talk pointing out that much of North East Anglia had already reached the capacity for new PV as the grid could not take anymore. Selwyn pointed out that installers maintain awareness of country hotspots and a quick look on the grid supply map shows the red areas where capacity is being reached. The industry has the ability to implement the 20GW aspiration that Greg Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change set into motion. A number of speakers applauded Barker for not backing away from his original statement and his continual usage of the 20GW statement that has now become a benchmark for industry progress.
Dr. Finlay Colville, of NPD Solarbuzz provided an overview of the UK market to date showing the UK nearing 3GW installed base and predicted that the UK would pass Germany as the largest European market in the first quarter of 2014. While the overall European market has seen a rapid decline that is much to do with Germany and Italy, the two largest markets, changing subsidy levels, the UK market continues to grow at an impressive rate. Colville highlighted that government policy is key to the continued success in the UK and stated that while policy has been strong and consistent so far, the industry is expressing some concern at changes that are expected in March 2014. Lark's Selwyn also suggested that the timing of the policy changes were as of much concern as the changes themselves as companies will be forced to try and complete projects in the coldest and wettest times of the year.
The Solar UK Awards were presented on the day and saw a variety of UK companies receive recognition for innovation and success. Most notable were the UK based manufacturing and innovative ideas coming from the UK companies and educational facilities. A full round up of all the winners will be found in the next edition of Solar UK.
Welsh based company Dulas discussed a project they are doing with First Wessex housing association which was an impressive development of PV on 1000 social housing that involved developing a sustainable energy roadmap and job skills for local unemployed youth. The integration of policies that will see a reduction in fuel poverty for the residents was rightly pointed out as the true reason FiTs were first envisaged and implemented in the UK. The resulting excess of the gold rush mentality sadly saw a reduction earlier than expected. The Dulas project showed the audience that such activities were not only still viable but profitable to all parties.
Anna Livesey of the Micropower Council provided an excellent overview of the need for the development of a storage industry in the UK and used Germany as a good example of the potential of such a move. Whilst acknowledging that batteries are not the best solution, they are likely to be the interim solution and can still provide a doubling of energy capacity and savings for consumers. At present the cost is still high and will be a "˜middle class' solution the price is expected to rapidly decline and with uptake will do so even quicker as the PV model has shown us.
A number of companies presented their UK success and hopes for the market and it was pleasing to see minimal marketing and strong statements from all. Solar Century, Yingli, Critical Software and Hanergy were among the companies who presented positive aspirations for the UK market and highlighted the strength of the region as well as discussing potential technologies that could have an impact on a growing market. Oxford Photovoltaics provided an overview of their exciting technology that may soon see glass coated with materials making high rise buildings power stations.
The final session saw finance, law and technology trends presented in a clear and concise manner with industry veteran Nigel Mason providing a clear and understandable overview of available technologies with a peek at the most likely technologies to soon make an impact which was a valuable resource for all attending. Matt Tingle, Senior Executive at Ernst and Young showed the audience how renewable energy and solar has gone from a financial market that would not be touched only a few years ago to a strong and steady stream that was now attracting Pension and institutional funds who are treading carefully after recent financial hiccups. With a number of large IPOs in the region Tingle stated that solar was now becoming a high interest area for investors seeking stable long term returns. Solicitor Neil Budd from UK Lawyers, SGH Martineau then provided an overview of legal issues developers need to consider when approaching deals in the UK. His talk could easily be described as a blueprint for sanity. He showed how the process was becoming more complex as landowners wised up to the strength of bartering and pointed out the pitfalls of not doing due diligence on a plan.
If a conference is to be measured on participant's feedback then the 2013 Solar UK Conference was a huge success. Comments this author heard consistently highlighted the quality of the content with one regular conference attendee stating it was the best level of content he had seen at any event for some years.
There was a real sense of excitement in the final networking event where drinks were shared and business cards swapped. One participant was heard to say that they had a clearer view of the UK industry and their head was now full of ideas and possibilities.
