SS#11: Spring has arrived, and so has the Solar Season!

Hello, and Happy Saturday once more!

This week I’m going to talk about seasons. “Errr…Sean…why? This should be a solar-related email?!”. Bear with me…

This week saw the beginning of Spring in the meteorological calendar. The last few months have not been a ‘hard winter’ that can often grace the UK with milder temperatures working to the advantage of rooftop installers.

In the supply chain, the solar seasons are aligned to a similar rhythm.

Peak output (installs) is often the April-June window and then again September to November.

Effectively the longer, warmer days of the year.

This means that in the supply chain, the manufacturers, distributors and partners have to plan effectively many months in advance. Most of the planning for the first Q2 installation “peak” happens in Q4 of the prior year.

In summary: before the product lands in the warehouse or in the fields/roofs, a hell of a lot of work has gone into planning, producing and shipping goods.

But now is not a time for the planners to slow down. Right now, the work is underway for the Q3 peak. There’s little downtime in the solar supply chain.

It does come at a cost.

I’ve worked in many roles during my career where I’ve seen first hand the effects of stress on it’s people. Not always intentionally, but it’s horrid to witness and experience.

Solar businesses traditionally have been under-resourced at most levels over my career. Most businesses are still lean. Fast-changing market forces add to the often short-nature of markets.

So, what’s my point?

In the UK the Q2 install peak is just creeping into view.

Installers, distributors, roofers, electricians, warehouse, finance, operations teams are into their “season”.

It’s the solar season. It’s now the sprint to the summer holidays. Go for it, smash it!

But here is a reminder: please take care of yourself.

And take a look around you at your colleagues, suppliers and teams too.

Is it stressful? Is it overwhelming?

We are all in this wonderful industry together. We are building clean energy for our future. But please be kind and look out for each other.

We are a team whether we are competitors, colleagues or suppliers.

Sunny regards!

Sean

This week’s most popular articles on Solar Crowd (who do you know who like these?):

1. Bits: Tesco PPA start, GivEnergy adds Rexel, new Eco2Solar CCO and Solis training

2. New dual-glass module for Rooftops from Trina Solar

3. RWE acquires UK developer JBM Solar, eats up their 6.1GW UK pipeline