Energy Seminar – HT25 Week 8: The astonishing rise of solar PV

Dr Chris Jardine

  • Start  Tuesday 11 Mar 2025 5:00pm
  • Finish    Tuesday 11 Mar 2025 6:15pm
  • Venue  School of Geography & the Environment
  • Postcode OX1 3AN
  • Register for event
Dr Chris Jardine

Summary: 25 years ago, solar PV was a hugely expensive, niche energy technology.  Today, it’s one of the cheapest means of generating electricity worldwide and we’re installing Gigawatts every single day.   It’s easy to take this for granted, perhaps – so here’s a light-hearted review of how it all happened.

Speaker: Chris joined the Environmental Change Institute in 2000, to work on a novel technical project – do solar panels even work in the UK?   We proved they did, and then the question became ‘how do we make them mainstream?  Chris’s career covers everything from technology to consumer attitudes, economics and policy, and from academia to years spent as Director of a solar installation company.