The Solar PV Mad (Gold) Rush

Back in those days with the Energy Saving Trust when Solar PV was a sort of a novelty, we had to go about spreading the gospel of the technology: the basic concept, suitability, environmental impact, and then the economics. It was only with the introduction of the Feed In Tariff  in April 2010 that the last aspect started to make sense. Even with that, the market did not explode immediately. There were questions, doubts and hesitations. I remember a client questioning an ex-colleague why there were no vans with loudspeakers all over the streets broadcasting the Feed-In Tariff if it was such a good deal.

And then there were all sorts of business models including the so called rent-a-roof scheme whereby people were offered free PV on their roof in exchange for free electricity. By the way, thank you to all those who participated in my last survey ages ago. Some people warmly embraced it while the doubters remained where they were. The government response all the way has been a knee jerk reaction as it could not predict the trend.

After a while something happened: Solar PV began to make sense to anyone who could afford it. The environmentalists were no longer needed to promote it. The economics of it became a no brainer! And when the government announce at the end of October 2011 that they were going to halve the tariff from 12th December, the whole industry went mad! Everyone wanted (and were begging) one immediately!!! No convincing was needed. It is the kind of business you want to be in where clients beg you to sell to them.

One of the PV installations I managed

Luckily for me at this point, I was already working with a renewable energy installation company, and have witnessed this exciting period first hand. I have so far successfully managed several installations through a whole project lifecycle. There is so much to say on that but I leave that for another post.

The mad rush is over but the government decision to cut the tariffs is being challenged. Whatever happens, things will never be the same. However my wish is that the PV business gets on the path of sustainable growth and it can be a viable alternative to electricity production.

Perhaps, there are two important learning lesson from all this. One is that money talks, and when it does people listen. The second one is that our perception of profitability is always relative.

Comments welcome!