Chris Hewett

Here comes the sun: How clean tech is quietly transforming Britain for the better Sales of solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, and electric vehicles are all setting fresh records - and the benefits for consumers and the economy could prove much bigger than expected

I wrote this earlier this week arguing that domestic clean tech is becoming ubiquitous and will unlock massive benefits for households and the UK economy as a whole. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/45...

All-electric Kent new town inks deal to export clean power to the grid Trail-blazing flexible grid agreement for Otterpool Park's 8,500-home all-electric garden town is expected to save residents millions of pounds on their energy bills

Really exciting news of an all-electric garden new town that promises to slash energy bills for residents. www.businessgreen.com/news/4517464...

New all-electric town in Kent strikes deal to supply power back to the grid Otterpool Park’s 8,500 homes will run on solar power and batteries – with enough renewable energy to help keep lights on elsewhere

The future of housebuilding is here:

Warwickshire farmer installs solar panels on part of land Rob Hadley says solar panels installed on his farm is providing energy for up to 16,000 homes.

This is how solar farms supports British agriculture and improves food security - Farmer: "The consistency of the income, it helps you sleep at night." Let's hope the local council go on a site visit! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The renewable energy revolution is a feat of technology | Rebecca Solnit An energy revolution is underway in this century, though most people have not noticed it

Belatedly getting round to reading this from @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social and it really is a brilliantly concise summary of quite how significant and exciting the clean tech transition is becoming. It remains beyond weird this stuff is not more widely understood. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Renewables have powered over 50% of the UK’s electricity for the first time on record.

Clean, secure, homegrown energy = lower bills, good jobs, climate action and freedom from fossil fuel markets we can’t control.

www.gov.uk/government/s...

Solar power electricity production is rising faster than any other generation technology in history (say Goldman Sachs)

"Solar energy.... is likely to meet a high share of long-run global energy demand because drivers of the surge look structural"

www.gspublishing.com/content/rese...

I always find survey results like this staggering (almost to the point of unbelievability).

The US was spending around 1% of its federal budget on foreign aid.

The average guess among 1,000+ surveyed Americans was 26%.

15% thought it was over half of the budget (?!)

www.kff.org/global-healt...

Reform's Richard Tice has written to energy firms to inform them of the 'political risk' of Reform to renewables

Labour official: “Reform are now actively trying to discourage businesses from investing in clean energy in the UK...

"They are disgracefully... undermining the UK's national interest."

As a coda to this, here’s a piece focused on Starmer’s achievements in his first year in office that doesn’t mention climate and energy once. The media blindspot on one of the most important topic there is remains as maddening as it is bizarre. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ignore the doubters: the UK is seizing the solar opportunity This post is by Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK. We are at the dawn of a transformative era for how the UK powers itself. Following two years’ work, over two governments, the Solar…

🌞😎On days like today in the future virtually all UK energy will be from solar. And wildlife thrives around it. The misinformation about it has to stop, says @chrishewett.bsky.social, CEO of @solarenergyuk.bsky.social:

‘Positive cascades could help accelerate change’: social tipping points expert on fixing climate crisis The world has been too optimistic about the risk to humanity and planet – but devastation can still be avoided, says Timothy Lenton

‘A cascade can be more positive’: social tipping points expert on fixing climate crisis www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#China installed 93 gigawatts of #solar panels last month, 4X more than in the same period in 2024 and more than any other country did in all of 2024, according to BloombergNEF data.

#cleantech #climatetech #renewables

📚☀️ Great to visit St Joseph’s Primary – one of the first schools in the country to get solar panels from Great British Energy.
They’ll save up to £8,500 a year – with more money going straight into classrooms.

Find out more here: www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/2522078...

Steel industry energy bill up by £1.8bn due to gas crisis – analysis Energy costs for British industry as a whole surged by £29bn during crisis, with price of gas ‘key driver’

New: @eciu.net analysis finds that over four years of gas crisis, British industry has had to pay an additional £29bn for its energy compared to the four years before the pandemic:

eciu.net/media/press-...

Solar farms could be the saving of insects and birdlife Photo by Bango at Morguefile.com     Here’s the thing: to our untrained eye, a corn field looks more "natural" than an array of solar panels...

"Biologist Matthias Stoefer said the high density of breeding larks in one of Germany’s largest solar parks in Brandenburg, north of Berlin, is astonishing. In his breeding territory mapping, he counted 178 spots within the solar park and surrounding areas."

Buzzzzzzzzz Something to actually do about insect decline

"To our untrained eye, a corn field looks more 'natural' than an array of solar panels. But a corn field is a biological desert ... Put up some solar panels, and add some plants that only need to be mowed once a year or so (sometimes with sheep) and you see an explosion of life."

The Spanish government is reporting that the cause of the massive blackout wasn't a lack of thermal power plants - rather that they failed to provide power at the time, acting 'inappropriately'.

Funny, after fossil lobbyists were so quick to blame renewables..
elpais.com/economia/202...

Birds thriving, breeding successfully in Germany’s solar parks Larks and other bird species are flourishing in Germany’s solar parks, where breeding success exceeds that of many other habitats. These PV project sites are becoming valuable refuges, benefiting both...

@bnenews.bsky.socialBirds thriving, breeding successfully in Germany’s solar parks www.pv-magazine.com/2025/06/05/b...

Most new build homes must be fitted with solar panels - Miliband The energy secretary says the move will cut energy bills, but house builders caution against burdensome regulations.

Kudos to Ed Miliband for making this happen 👏

Yes, it's long overdue, but the real culprit here was George Osborne who slashed the 2016 zero carbon homes target, followed by years of dithering by the Tories amid a flurry of donations from housebuilders.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

There is also no need for the party's MPs to engage in environmental NIMBYISM.

Lib Dem voters say they would feel more negatively towards their local MP if they opposed a, hypothetical, solar farm project in their constituency on the grounds of protecting local green spaces.

NEW ANALYSIS: UK's solar power surges 42% to a new record, after the sunniest spring on record

* For the first time, solar was >10% of UK generation in consecutive months (April/May 2025)
* In 2025, solar has already avoided gas imports that would've cost £600m

www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uks...

Insane this isn’t a bigger global story.

Climate change is causing glacier collapse in the Alps.

The Swiss town of Blatten was destroyed yesterday. The few buildings that survived the 3.5 million cubic metres of landslide are now slowly drowning as the collapsed mountain damns the river.

(🎥 AFP)

FUSION☀️ overtakes FISSION☢️

Energy storage in California by type (as of April 2025).

@calenergy.bsky.social: "From 2018 through the first quarter of 2025, battery storage capacity in California increased from 500 megawatts (MW) to more than 15,700 MW with an additional 8,600 MW planned to come online by the end of 2027." www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports... 🔌💡

YouTube video by Solar Energy UK Empowering British Farmers with Solar Energy

Indeed. Here are some *actual farmers* explaining why they agreed to put solar panels on their land. youtu.be/kKDHW5Ex_bU?...

RUKCymru, in collaboration with @solarenergyuk.bsky.social & Marine Energy Wales, has launched a new report offering the most complete national assessment of the full economic, social & environmental value of all renewables out to 2035, & a clear roadmap for realising their potential in Wales:

What is life like living the shadow of Ashby's solar farms? Residents of Ashby-de-la-Zouch offer mixed views on the fields of solar panels surrounding the town.

🌞 What’s life like next to a solar farm?

A decade on, Ashby residents say: not bad at all. Some even prefer panels over new housing. Sheep still graze, the grass still grows and the panels quietly power thousands of homes.

🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It's tough to overstate just how shockingly unusual an article like this is. Despite the fact that this is the response of the vast, vast majority of neighbours for both wind and solar farms, they are mostly erased from existence in coverage of attitudes of neighbours to utility-scale renewables

What is life like living the shadow of Ashby's solar farms? - BBC News Residents of Ashby-de-la-Zouch offer mixed views on the fields of solar panels surrounding the town.

The BBC spoke to locals near a big English solar farm and found the panels “do not really bother them” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...