Accelerating the Adoption of Solar
In September, thousands of innovators, businesses, and policymakers will come together at Solar & Storage Live. The mission is clear: to accelerate the adoption of solar energy and move towards a world powered by clean, renewable sources.
The momentum is already building. According to Solar Energy UK, solar power capacity in the UK has approached 19GW, with a target to grow to 70GW by 2035. Meanwhile, the country’s energy storage pipeline now exceeds 80GW, as tracked by Solar Power Portal. These numbers highlight both the progress made and the scale of opportunity still ahead.
The Role of Skills in Unlocking Growth
The technology to scale up solar and storage is advancing rapidly, with larger solar farms, more efficient PV panels, and next-generation batteries such as flow and liquid air storage being piloted across the UK.
But there’s a bottleneck: the workforce.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that the global renewable energy sector will need to more than double its workforce to 38 million people by 2030 to keep pace with net zero targets. In the UK, that translates to tens of thousands of new roles in:
-
Solar design and installation
-
Grid connection and electrical engineering
-
Battery storage operations and maintenance
-
Project delivery and HSE management
“The solar and storage revolution is fundamentally a human story,” says Lee Elwell, Associate Director and Head of Energy Recruitment at Jonathan Lee Recruitment. “Without the right skills and talent in place, projects stall. With the right people, innovation accelerates, infrastructure gets delivered, and net zero ambitions become achievable.”
Transferring Skills Across Sectors
One positive trend is the cross-sector mobility of technical talent. Skills developed in aerospace, automotive, and oil and gas can be redeployed into renewable energy. For example:
-
Automotive engineers are transitioning into battery storage and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
-
Oil & gas specialists are applying their project management and HSE expertise to solar and offshore wind.
-
Aerospace engineers are contributing precision engineering skills to solar component manufacturing.
As Energy Systems Catapult highlights, this kind of cross-pollination will be critical in building the workforce needed to deliver the UK’s net zero ambitions.
“We’re working with businesses across the renewable energy sector who are not just looking for today’s hires, but tomorrow’s leaders,” adds Lee Elwell. “That means thinking strategically about workforce planning, attracting cross-sector talent, and building teams that can deliver projects at scale.”
Why People Matter as Much as Technology
Scaling solar and storage is about more than megawatts and gigawatt-hours—it’s about creating the ecosystems that allow innovation to thrive. That means:
-
Faster grid connection reforms to avoid project delays (Ofgem is already reviewing processes).
-
Greater investment in skills and training, such as apprenticeships and retraining programmes supported by UK Government Net Zero Strategy.
-
Collaboration between industry, academia, and recruitment specialists to ensure the talent pipeline keeps pace with technology.
Without the right people in place, the UK risks falling short of its renewable energy targets—even if the technology itself is ready.
Meet Us at Solar & Storage Live
At Jonathan Lee Recruitment, we’re proud to be supporting the clean energy transition by helping organisations build the teams that will deliver solar, storage, and wider renewable infrastructure projects.
We’ll be at Solar & Storage Live to connect with businesses, partners, and professionals who share the mission of accelerating clean energy adoption.
Visit our Energy Recruitment Services page to learn more—or get in touch today (01384 446154) to arrange a meeting with our team at the event.
Share this blog post
