Inspiring the future – students tour Welsh solar farm

Last week, members of the Lightsource bp team were excited to welcome a group of young people to our Maes Bach solar farm in South Wales. The group was taking part in a programme, run in conjunction with the Celtic English Academy and AFS – an international youth exchange organisation – to empower students from diverse backgrounds across the world to follow STEM study paths. The programme brings selected individuals on a roadshow across the UK to meet with professionals (scientists, engineers, and so on) to help spark interest in the careers of the future. As part of our drive to lead the solar industry forwards, in the UK and beyond, Lightsource bp takes great pride in taking part in programmes such as the AFS Innovators initiative, and as a company as well as individuals we valued the chance to speak to the next generation of big thinkers.

We had good weather, with a slight breeze amid a week of blistering sunshine, and split into two groups to walk through the site. The students received first-hand accounts of how solar panels work, as well as an introduction to the importance of renewables to the UK energy mix, and a whistle-stop tour of the solar development process. We answered questions about around choosing sites for solar, health and safety on our projects, and stopped time and time again to take photos with the sheep grazing in and around the panels.

It was a pleasure for our team to spend the afternoon showing off the work we do, with the hopes of inspiring a new generation of STEM experts to join the solar and renewables industry.