PODCAST: The year’s biggest stories in solar and energy storage and looking ahead to 2021

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Image: Iberdrola.

In this final episode of the Solar Media Podcast for 2020, Liam Stoker and Andy Colthorpe reflect on the biggest stories of the year and gaze into their crystal balls for 2021.

We reflect on how capacity expansion announcements and new technologies took the upstream solar sector into a new era, how the net zero movement spread and, yes, what impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the industry supply chain. In energy storage, we discuss why California was rarely out of the headlines, some of the world’s biggest projects and a ‘mysterious’ new contender in the long-duration space.

There’s also time to reflect on some of the lighter stories of 2020, and both Liam and Andy provide their predictions for 2021.

The podcast can be streamed below:

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Alternatively, you can subscribe and listen to the podcast on the Solar Media Editor’s Channel, which is now on all popular audio channels, including;

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts

The Solar Media Podcast will be back in January for an entirely new season, but Andy, Liam and the rest of the Solar Media editorial team wish all of our listeners a happy holidays and a prosperous new year.

8 September 2026
Barcelona, Spain
Battery & Energy Storage Tech Europe (BESTE) is Europe’s industrial scaling platform for stationary and industrial battery applications — not EVs. Taking place 8–9 September 2026 at Fira de Barcelona, BESTE brings together utilities, IPPs, energy-intensive industries, data centres, ports, rail, maritime, defence and aerospace OEMs — all deploying or integrating battery storage at scale. Over 100 companies already confirmed — including EDP Renewables, Acciona, Endesa, Naturgy, Neoen, Galp, Basquevolt and Veolia — alongside 40+ expert speakers and international institutional support from BEPA, BVES, LDES and Volta Foundation. Where Europe’s battery & ES ecosystem turns projects into reality.
15 September 2026
San Diego, USA
You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.

Read Next

June 25, 2026
US residential solar and energy storage installer Sunrun, energy management platform Renew Home, and Tesla have announced an agreement to deliver more than 16GW of flexible energy capacity to US hyperscalers and utilities.
Premium
June 25, 2026
ESN Premium speaks with Nextpower CEO Dan Shugar and Prevalon’s Tom Cornell about the solar PV solutions company’s (re)entry into the energy storage space.
June 25, 2026
AEMO has set out a storage requirement of almost 50GW in its latest 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP), split between 35GW of short and medium-duration battery storage for daily firming and 5GW of long-duration energy storage (LDES) for seasonal reliability.
June 24, 2026
Market research firm Wood Mackenzie predicted that the US energy storage market will almost quadruple over the next six years.
June 24, 2026
NatPower and Tesla have signed a multi-year supply and execution agreement covering more than 25GWh of BESS across Italy and the UK.