PODCAST: Solar supply crisis, storage procurement’s Wild West, and ‘the place to be’ in Europe

By Liam Stoker
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Lithium-ion inspection solutions by ZEISS. The raw materials situation for storage doesn’t look as tricky as it does for solar, but some of the problems lie further downstream. Image: Andy Colthorpe / Solar Media.

The Solar Media podcast is back for another episode, and Liam Stoker and Andy Colthorpe kick off with an exploration of the deepening materials crisis impacting upstream solar manufacturing, through from modules to trackers.

Talk moves on to how the picture is very different in energy storage in some ways, and not-so-different in other ways. Andy reports back from an interview with specialist lawyer Adam Walters of Stoel Rives on how energy storage procurement in the US is “like the Wild West” and his recent discussion of energy storage in four European Union member states. Liam Stoker talks to Honeywell’s Erin Ergin about the prospects of energy storage markets around the world, and we also consider how this summer will be the California battery storage industry’s first big test.

The podcast can be streamed below:

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This episode of the Solar Media Podcast is brought to you by Honeywell.

3 November 2026
Málaga, Spain
Understanding technology and supplier selection for Europe’s utility-scale PV market in 2027. PV ModuleTech Europe 2026 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of PV module, inverter and battery supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, supply chain traceability, quality assurance, factory auditing, system reliability, and supplier bankability.
22 February 2027
InterContinental London - The O2, London, UK
The Future of Energy Storage Starts Here Three days in London where developers, IPPs, investors, utilities and the manufacturers building the technology come to close deals, not swap business cards. If you need to be in the room with the people deploying capital into European storage, this is that room.

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