SS#3: The City of London Corporation believes! So what about Dave?

Just before most of the solar industry cooled down from a stellar year, The City of London announced a deal hailed as a ‘first-of it’s kind, direct PPA between a renewables producer and a governing authority’. Not just a ‘first’ but a whopping one at that: £40 million deal with Voltalia to buy all of the electricity produced by a 50MW Solar Farm in Dorset.

Now, bear with me on this, but most of my “non-solar friends” still believe that solar is dead (RIP Feed in tariffs and ‘grants’).

They are (largely) ignorant about how power is produced in “eyesore” solar fields, onshore wind farms and nuclear reactors.

All of this despite our collective best efforts of the industry to educate them. So why is this important enough for me to write about this on a Saturday morning? I am not sure I know either!

But I do know this: the UK solar industry is still a mysterious beast to Dave!

‘Who is Dave?’ I am not sure why, but Dave is used here as a collective for consumers. (Sorry if you are a Dave!).

If you want to go solar, many are still shocked by horror Daily Mail stories of dodgy installs and workmanship. Or missold pensioners.

Sadly we are all still affected by this conception. It happens (not exclusively to solar, see ASHP, UPVC window sales and more’).

But stories such as the above from The City of London Corporation powering iconic London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, the Barbican Centre and the Square Mile global financial centre with solar just hits the right note in PR terms. Every little or large story helps Dave be more confident in the credibility of going solar.

We all know we build solar for many reasons. From a climate perspective, the more the merrier.

As we enter 2023, what positive stories can you tell your network? And how will you reach them?

In next week’s Solar Saturday I’ll be giving some key tips on PR and Marketing for the year ahead. Who knows, I might even be able to help you with it directly.

Congrats to Voltalia and The City of London Corporation for this stunning example. Click this link to the original story.

Have a great New Years Eve celebration! Happy New Year, solar people!

Sean