Fully Charged Live 2023.

This month I drove down to see the Fully Charged Live show in Farnborough.

The Fully Charged Live is a showground event. It is full of everything a geek could want on an electrifying weekend. There are so many electric vehicles and electric vehicle charges on display that you are really spoiled for choice. You’ll also find everything from heat pumps and solar panels to talks and workshops.

@sarah_go_green #fullychargedlive #fullychargedshow ♬ friday im in love m8 – 🦆

There is a second Fully Charged live event which is being held in Harrogate from the 19th to the 21st of May 2023. If you are interested in electric vehicles even if it’s a new obsession or slight interest it is really worth visiting.

Octopus Energy Solar Panels and Heat Pump Installation – How is it going?

Last month I went to visit Octopus Energy. They have two giant unit on an industrial estate in Slough. Here they are on a mission to transform the energy market. They are training their own team of engineers to install lots of new green tech such as heat pumps, solar panels and electric vehicle chargers.

Training Octopus Engineers.

The first warehouse I went into is where all the training takes place. The mood was defiantly high energy as lots of staff buzzed around the site. There were two full-sized houses built inside the warehouse! Plus two classrooms, and a very chilled-out restroom fitted with games machines and tea and coffee facilities.

@sarah_go_green Take a tour of @Octopus Energy warehouses in Slough. #octopusenergy #greenenergy They distribute #heatpumps and #solarpanels ♬ Happy to Be Happy – Dapun

I watched two of the engineers working on a heat pump. Trainees are given the opportunity to get their hands on the hardware and practice installation on-site. It ticks so many boxes in terms of thinking about how we can transition to electrification. Someone has to install this green hardware and with a shortage of trained engineers, this is the perfect way for Octopus to not only keep an eye on standards but get more engineers out into the field where they are needed. They aim to train at least 1000 new Octopus engineers.

Getting the hardware in and out of the Octopus warehouse to customers at speed.

The second warehouse was just a few minutes walk away. It is a large unit of around 18,500 sq ft.  Yet again I was met with lots of enthusiasm by staff who were beavering away. Actually, I would say Beavering doesn’t quite hit the spot as they were going at quite a pace. They would have left any beaver in the dust! 😀🦫

The second warehouse is relatively new and needs a total fit-out. This is where all the hardware comes in from suppliers and goes out again to Octopus customers.

I spoke to one gentleman who was heading up the warehouse. In his previous job, he worked on setting you temporary sites for the BBC, such as the one at the Glastonbury Festival.  Time and efficiency were defiantly high on his priorities. What should take months to set up he was hoping to achieve in a matter of weeks!

Octopusing away to get things done at speed.

I soon came to realise that just beavering away isn’t good enough for Octopus Energy. It is a million miles from describing what Octopus is doing here in Slough. They are Octopusing away relentlessly but still had time for some pink fun. I lived the slide in the staff room.

Training new staff to fill a gap in the UK market is no easy task.  Not only are Octopus doing this, but they are also doing it in a way that leaves staff happy and indeed energised.

You have to admire Octopus Energy. If they see a problem, such as a lack of engineers they try and fix that.  If they need to bring costs down they go to great lengths to do that too. They have even bought a flipping heat pump factory in Ireland!

Thank you for a wonderful day. The staff were very welcoming and extremely enthusiastic.  May the Octoverse continue to grow at speed!!