Renewable energy installers of the future are going to have a great place to learn at a new development at Bicton College in East Devon.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a tour of the site of Bicton EaRTH (Environmental and Renewable Technologies Hub) site and was impressed by the detail that lay behind the vision, and how the experience of restoring and retrofitting the old barns will inform the subsequent teaching.

One of the most regular complaints I hear about renewable energy installations is that people who have more than one technology installed often find that the installers don't understand the needs of the other technology and don't work well together to make the system seamless. 

The Bicton team will have experienced the challenges involved in combining all technologies during the build, and so will be in a good position to train installers to understand how they work together.

The long barn will convert to a series of training workshops, with one for each technology. Outside each will be a ladder to the roof, so trainees can get hands on experience of installing panels.

The higher barn will be converted into an interpretation centre, with displays explaining how all the technologies work, and lots of space for local community groups, businesses and schools to use.

The work on the conversion from barn to state of the art training facility starts at the beginning of January. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished centre.

If there are similar things happening in your part of the country, please let me know.

If you have a question about anything in the above blog, please ask it in the comments section below.