AES Solar MD George Goudsmit addresses national conference at Edinburgh Castle

A FORRES-based businessman was invited to talk ahead of a national conference about climate change’s effects on buildings.

Event sponsor and AES Solar managing director, George Goudsmit, gave a speech at Edinburgh Castle on the eve of the CATE22 (comfort and the extremes) convention in the city involving plenary sessions and workshops focused on new approaches to building and design with ventilation and the environment in mind.

Discussing solar energy and thermal manufacturing, he explained that AES was founded in Findhorn in 1979, employs 37 staff and is still the only Scottish solar panel manufacturer.

He said: “The low-carbon and renewable energy sectors have employment and growth potential. The sector has the potential to tackle the climate crisis while creating sustainable jobs and improving quality of life via cleaner transport, reduced air pollution, and energy efficient homes.”

Mr Goudsmit pointed out that there are still millions of substandard properties in the UK.

He said: “Most continental countries have introduced large scale projects to improve living conditions. I’ve seen domestic applications of PV solar, wind, inter seasonal heat and electricity storage, ground and air source heat pumps combined. The UK is catching up thanks to conferences like these.”

Historic Environment Scotland employed AES Solar to install a PV system at Edinburgh Castle. Traditional planning permission objections were overcome by designing the system to be unobtrusive. An AES Solar water heating system was also installed in HRH the Queen’s house at Balmoral Castle.

This year, AES received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for excellence in sustainable development.

Mr Goudsmit finished: “More up-to-date equipment and technology is becoming available to everyone. We all need to dare to take the solar steps, dare to experiment, knowing that there are plenty of well proven technologies available to all of us.”