SA Energy discusses its growth in renewable energy, as well as the perks of working in a business centre.

Solar power globally is burning through the record books for all the right reasons.

Clean electricity generation from sunlight is reportedly doubling every three years on our planet, with a staggering 2,131 TWh reached in 2024 – a terawatt hour can power 100 million homes in one hour.

Britian is also racing ahead with solar energy and is on track to beat the government’s Clean Power 2030 plan of 47 GW by 2030; the 20 GW barrier for deployed solar capacity across nearly 1.9m domestic and commercial installations was provisionally broken in November 2025.

Solar specialist

By way of context, one GW (gigawatt) of solar energy can power between 750,000 to 1 million homes and, on 8th July 2025, the highest-ever level of solar power on the UK grid was recorded at 14 GW.

Playing its part in this renewables charge is SA Energy, a Fareham Innovation Centre occupier which offers renewable energy solutions in the UK, specialising in solar, battery storage and heat pumps for homes and businesses.

The family-run firm was founded by Simon and Amber Smith in 2019, with the business, which designs, builds and maintains energy systems, relocating in January 2022 due to customer demand; the garden shed at home wasn’t big enough for the increasing amount of electronics testing, products and IT, nor was the spare room.

Orders and referrals

With 250 domestic and 50 commercial installs completed, including retrofits, SA Energy puts a good measure of its success down to networking at Fareham Innovation Centre, where the company now has two units, having expanded from an office into two workshops.

An electronics engineer by background, Simon said: “Some of the opportunities which have come our way would never have happened if our paths had not crossed with the right people at the centre.

“We’ve had install orders and referrals from staff who work for dozens of the companies here, and the on-site networking, business support and events have shortened the time it would have taken to make established relationships in the ‘outside world’.

Industry events

“For instance, there are events put on by local councils, industry and companies which help us make connections, along with seasonally themed gatherings such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, Hallowe’en, Christmas and charity cake bake sales.”

SA Energy’s presence at the centre has not only grown with workspace – the business has already put on two educational seminars in 2025, held at The Bridge conference suite and attracting more than 40 industry attendees for each one.

“These events weren’t about us selling – it was very much about sector knowledge and insights, from the technicalities to the practicalities.

Internal opportunities

“Having a conference suite a flight of stairs away from the office is amazing – it makes planning far easier and is a fantastic venue.”

SA Energy, like many other resident occupiers at the centre, which has 91 rooftop solar panels, has drawn upon complimentary business support from the in-house Innovation Director; one-to-one meetings explore marketing and strategy, with sense checks essential to keeping minds focused.

Furthermore, internal opportunities have also extended to the firm doing business with other occupiers, what Simon describes as “cross pollination”.

Inward investment

For example, SA Energy reached out to software company Lumico Digital to create a virtual reality app so that customers can visualise their renewable set-up in real world.

SA Energy also puts business to Solent Architecture and Solent Way Computers, increasing inward investment and benefiting the local economy.

Regarding jobs, the firm employs three people – Simon, who heads up energy management consultation, production design and development, marketing manager Amber and electrician Dane Spencer, with more indirect jobs supported through the supply chain.

Primary energy

According to government figures, the solar power industry in the UK currently employs 17,000; by 2030, the estimate is up to 35,000.

With solar power delivering the lion’s share of growth in renewables, both internationally and domestically, coupled with photovoltaic (PV) panels being cheaper than ever due to exponential growth, solar energy is on course to be humankind’s largest source of primary energy within the next two decades.

SA Energy, thriving from the internal opportunities generated at Fareham Innovation Centre, has its place under the sun – a source of light, thousands of years old, which travels 8 minutes and 20 seconds through space to touch the solar panels installed by Simon and his team.

Simon and Amber Smith