Electric-Vehicle Charging: A Market Zooming Toward 300,000 Public Sockets 

The government’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars e dges closer each quarter. To keep vehicles moving, Westminster wants 300,000 public EV charging points live by 2030—up from roughly 55,000 today. That number says two things: 

1. Domestic installs will explode. Homeowners upgrading to EVs need 7 kW wallboxes fitted, tested and registered with DNOs. 

1. Commercial demand follows. Employers must provide charge bays for staff, shopping-centre car parks will monetise kWh instead of parking tickets, and hotels will compete on “overnight charge included.” 

A single domestic charger pays £250–£300 labour; a ten-bay workplace install clears well over £2,000. But the work requires new competencies—PEN-fault protection, 6 mA DC RCD tests, OCPP firmware commissioning—that many sparks never saw in their first electrician course. 

2 | Battery Storage: The Missing Link Between Wind, Solar and a Stable Grid 

Wind turbines and PV farms generate power when the weather co-operates, not when kettles b oil at halftime. Large-scale lithium-ion batteries smooth that mismatch, and National Grid ESO forecasts 20 GW of storage capacity by 2030. On the domestic side, solar-equipped households add 5–15 kWh wall-mounted packs so they can run the washing machine at midnight without drawing from the grid. 

Opportunities for electricians: 

• Home battery retro-fits—physically mounting packs, routing DCDC cables, configuring BMS and integrating with smart meters. 

• Containerised utility storage—glanding 240 mm² DC tails, installing fire-suppression sensors and running HV switch-room controls. 

Safety stakes rise sharply: thermal-runaway mitigation, emergency-stop circuits, DC isolation. Specialised electrical training on lithium packs turns a general installer into a battery-storage specialist overnight. 

3 | Solar PV: Roofs and Car-Ports Become Power Stations 

The PM reaffirmed a target to triple solar generation by 2035. Planning changes now streamline rooftop installs, and commercial landlords add car-port arrays that shade vehicles while powering site EV chargers. Electricians with DC know-how can: 

• Design and install residential strings (typically 4–10 kW). 

• Fit optimisers on complex roofs to beat shading losses. 

• Maintain ageing arrays—replacing failed inverters or re-testing insulation resistance. 

The margin per watt may be leaner than 2012 feed-in-tariff days, but the volume is vast and the add-on services—storage, EV integration—multiply earnings. 

4 | Upskilling Pathways at Elec Training Birmingham

1. Green-Skills Fast Track

Six-week blended block that inserts PV-string design, EV-charger wiring and battery-BMS commissioning into the standard Level 3 timetable. Evening theory, Saturday labs; zero weekday income lost. 

2. Modular Upskill Courses

Pick one or stack them: 

• EV-Charging Course (5 days) 

• C&G Solar PV (5 days) 

• Battery-Storage & Micro-Grid Workshop (5 evenings + 1 Saturday) 

All modules map to NVQ evidence categories—functional testing, commissioning, customer hand-over—so portfolio progress continues. 

5 | Real Results: A 2024 Cohort Snapshot 

Two alumni now lead teams on a 20 MW battery farm; another has a six-week waiting list for 7 kW home chargers. 

6 | Business Reality Checks 

• No van? Use centre tools and share transport until cashflow justifies purchase. 

• Admin fear? Elec Training’s course includes templates for DNO G99 forms and charger warranty packs. 

• Grammar slip? The assessor cares about correct PEN-fault tests, not apostrophes. 

7 | Next Steps to Capture the Boom 

1. Download the Renewable-Skills Pathway PDF—dates, costs, funding options. 

1. Tour the campus—pull DC isolators in the PV lab, test a live charger rig. 

1. Secure a seat—green-skills intakes cap at 16 learners and often fill eight weeks ahead. 

Britain’s clean-energy roadmap is locked in, and the only missing ingredient is a skilled workforce. By adding solar strings, EV-charger know-how and battery-storage safety to your existing trade, you position yourself as the go-to electrician for a decade of publicly funded growth. Book an upskill block at Elec Training Birmingham, mesh it into your current NVQ or Gold Card, and plug yourself straight into the renewable-energy r evenue stream. The future is wired for green—make sure you’re the one fitting the cables. 

Another add on to consider is 2391 course inspection and testing.