A solar panel industry reborn

I’m inspired by a similar pioneering spirit in the solar panel industry. Like the early internet, people began to venture into a world of exciting unknowns. Pioneers learn quickly and manage to avoid the pitfalls of such a new landscape.

In the fledgling days, bad salesmanship and disproportionate pricing were a problem! Today, good MCS-accredited solar installers are gone and such practices have been removed in our modern industry.

Much hard work has gone into cleaning up the industry through regulations and a yearning to see photovoltaic solar panels become a serious contributor to the UK’s energy mix. Much of this hard work came from the MCS-accreditation and RECC authorities.

We’re happy to proclaim, the bad memories of the early solar industry are gone. Today’s solar adopters can expect a level of service that’s world-leading.

What those Wild West days did, was throw up a lot of negative media coverage, because a few companies made over-the-top claims with excessive pricing structures. EON being the largest fell foul of this practice recently.

Despite this dark time, PV solar adoption increased year on year. If your time has come like solar technology today, a few bad actors can’t hold back progress.

I’m proud of the passionate work that good installation companies are doing to improve consumer confidence.

Electronically driving PV solar panels into the mainstream is our fuel. Additionally, our industry has also coped with politicians with traditional energy investment portfolios!

A special acknowledgment for these former ministers; Chris Hulme, Greg Barker, and Edward Davey whose enthusiasm for alternative energy generation shone through.

The solar industry’s Wooden Spoon Award goes to David Cameron who appointed energy industry lobbyists to critical government positions.

A special wooden spoon mention goes to Matthew Hancock for rolling back solar panel incentives as the new head of the Department of Energy and Climate Change! Also, the new environment secretary and former Shell employee, Liz Truss, with George Osborne’s negative view of self-generation technologies are well-documented.

Short-sightedness in these political appointments or plain and simple corruptness – you decide? Hugging Huskies have sadly been replaced by business as usual!

History won’t look kindly at these people working against the inevitable tide of progress. The North Sea oil extravaganza – only gave us short-term gratification. Even energy company executives dictating Conservative policy cannot prevent progression.

Despite these ghosts of the past, we know self-generation is going to be a big part of the future.