Solar & Storage Live 2026: This Year Felt Different
By Darren Lewis | 6-10-26
Now that we’ve had a little bit of time to come back down to earth after Solar & Storage Live, I’ve been thinking about this year’s show and why, for me, it felt so different.
I’ve been to enough industry events over the years to know the usual routine. You walk the halls, catch up with familiar faces, see what’s new, have a few meetings and come home with a pocket full of business cards and a slightly questionable number of coffees behind you.
This year wasn’t really like that.
In fact, I barely had time to walk around the exhibition.
Our diaries were packed. We were moving between meetings, catching up with existing clients, having conversations with new contacts and preparing for some pretty significant meetings while we were there. It was busy. Properly busy.
And looking back, I think that says something about where Solar Group is today. We weren’t there looking for something to happen
In previous years, I think I probably arrived at events like Solar & Storage with a little more pressure on myself. Who do we need to meet? Where is the next project coming from? What opportunities are out there? What should we be doing next? There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s part of building a business.
But this year felt different.
There was a confidence and a calmness to it. Not because we’re taking anything for granted, far from it, but because so many of the conversations we were having were already part of relationships we’ve spent years building.
This year, Solar & Storage felt less about looking for the next opportunity and more about building on the opportunities already in front of us. That was probably my biggest takeaway from the whole event. Relationships matter more than ever. Our industry is growing up.
There is more investment, greater scrutiny, larger portfolios and increasingly sophisticated asset owners. With that comes higher expectations of the businesses responsible for building, operating and maintaining these assets.
But however big the industry becomes, I still believe relationships sit at the heart of it. Some of the most valuable conversations we had at Solar & Storage weren’t introductions, they were with people we already knew. People we’ve worked with. People we’ve spoken to over the years. People who know our team, understand what we do and know how seriously we take our work. Those relationships don’t appear overnight. They’re built by turning up, doing what you said you were going to do, being honest when things aren’t straightforward and delivering consistently.
Events like Solar & Storage give us the chance to strengthen those relationships face-to-face, but also to start new ones that could become equally important over the next few years. The conversations are getting bigger
There were some significant meetings happening behind the scenes for us this year.
I won’t go into the details, but we were juggling a lot while we were at the show, including preparing for some very important client conversations alongside everything happening on the exhibition floor. And I enjoyed that because those conversations weren’t simply about finding another job or filling another gap in the diary. We were talking about longer-term relationships, framework agreements, future requirements, expanding teams and how we can support clients as their portfolios grow.
That is an exciting position for Solar Group to be in.
It also brings responsibility - growth for us has never been about chasing everything that moves. We want to work with the right people, build the right team and make sure the quality of what we deliver grows with us.
One thing that certainly hasn’t changed is how positive I feel about this industry.
You only have to look around Solar & Storage Live to understand the scale of what is happening. Solar is maturing. Storage is becoming increasingly important. Asset owners are thinking longer term, and the experience of the people actually operating and maintaining these sites is becoming more valuable. That last point is particularly important to me.
The people on the ground have spent years learning what works, what doesn’t and where problems occur. That experience matters.
As an industry, I think we’re getting better at listening to it.
There is still plenty we need to improve, but I came away from the show genuinely excited about what the next few years could look like.
Not just for Solar Group, but for the sector as a whole.
And yes, I got on stage…
Anyone who knows me will know that speaking on stage isn’t necessarily where I’m most comfortable. But I did it. And, surprisingly, I really enjoyed it.
It was good to be part of a wider industry conversation and to share some of what we’ve learned from actually being out there, operating and maintaining solar assets every day.
Sometimes getting slightly outside your comfort zone is no bad thing. I might even do it again.
So what happens next?
For Solar Group, it’s about continuing what we’re already doing; building strong relationships and developing new ones. Growing our team with good people and supporting our existing clients properly. And making sure that as the business grows, we don’t lose the things that got us here in the first place.
There are some genuinely exciting opportunities ahead of us over the next 12 months and beyond, and there are conversations taking place now that I’m looking forward to seeing develop. But perhaps the biggest thing I took away from Solar & Storage Live this year was a feeling. We’re not trying to work out where Solar Group fits anymore. We know what we do. We know the value our team brings. And we’re excited about where we’re going next.
Thanks to everyone who stopped for a chat, sat down for a meeting, came to see us or listened to the panel.
And to the Solar Group team, thank you.
It was a busy few days.
But I think they might have been some of our most important yet.
Because we care.
