Polysolar
25th January 2021
Hamish Watson is the CEO and Founder at Polysolar. Polysolar is a developer, designer and producer of architectural transparent solar photovoltaic glass solutions.
As we look ahead to this new year, clean tech companies are increasingly being presented with the opportunity to shine and demonstrate how technology can be utilised to make the world a more sustainable place.
Covid-19 has kickstarted a more active position from the UK Government to drive through sustainability initiatives and support the technology businesses offering innovative solutions to enable this, with Hamish, CEO and founder of Polysolar, explaining,
“COVID-19 has brought home the issue of global warming and this has been an advantage to companies in the clean tech space. The public sector is looking to fix environmental issues beyond providing saving face solutions, which means moving forwards there will be some pretty hefty public sector investment in the field”.
The flurry of interest from the Government has encouraged many private sector organisations to consider ways to ensure sustainability is at the heart of their operations in the future.
“The private sector has been slower at adapting to change; however, they are starting to catch up with the public sector with sustainability becoming an increasingly important issue for them to consider and tackle. We have also seen a lot of growth on the domestic side for our solar solutions – these days, people have more time and money to start looking at home projects to undertake as they consider ways to make their living spaces more environmentally friendly.”
Increased interest in sustainability by both the public and private sector has meant organisations within the clean tech space are getting increasing investment opportunities, with Hamish elaborating:
“There has been significant investment in the sector, certainly on the renewable energy side. With big utility energy companies and oil producers realising that their business models are out of date, investors are increasingly keen to find the next place to put their money. To date, investors have taken a rather scattergun approach and have put money in different companies to place bets on a plethora of different emerging technologies.”
With the clean tech revolution only starting, Hamish predicts Polysolar will see a period of sustained growth over the coming years.
“It is possible that in the next ten years all cars will ultimately be electric, meaning we will need to dramatically increase the number of charging point with localised renewable power generation across the country. The market potential will be significant and something we are looking to take advantage of – making it a key growth market for us. One of our solar carports can run an electric car for 10,000 miles a year which means drivers will be getting free and clean power and almost zero running costs”.
The cleantech trend is certain to continue to rise and Hamish emphasises how Level39 has been an important home for Polysolar on its journey.
“Whilst Level39 has more members in the fintech space than in the clean tech sector at the moment, the relationships we built with other members have still been incredibly valuable. Being part of the Level39 community provides us with access to the financial world – this has been integral as it provides us with the advice and network we need as we scale the business”.