REI: What have you got planned for 2016? RS: We are very excited about next year; the Year of Energy Storage as we like to refer to 2016 within the business. GoodWe has recently announced a strategic partnership with BYD, one of the world’s largest suppliers of rechargeable batteries. This, in conjunction with our retrofit inverter unit GW2500, will transform the domestic market in the UK. In layman’s terms, it means that every single one of the 600,000 houses in the UK that has solar panels can store the energy they generate in a cost-effective way and without having to replace their existing inverters.

It’s been difficult to detect a note of optimism in the world of renewables after the recent and anticipated announcements. There will certainly be some challenging times ahead. However, I was fascinated to read some comments made by representatives of the National Grid which were published recently. One of the statements which caught my eye stated that ‘…energy from the Sun was expected to be one of the most cost-effective ways to power homes within 18 months.’

Bob Mills, LG Solar

Liz MacFarlane, Zenex Solar, asks what will become of the PV industry if swingeing cuts to the Feed-in Tariff are given the go ahead

Bill Wright, head of energy solutions at The Electrical Contractors’ Association, gives his take on proposed cuts to the Feed-in Tariff