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

The government’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars edges 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 boil 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 revenue 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.