Energy security is now a boardroom decision

1 May 2026

The question of energy security is no longer one for governments alone, as so many businesses rely on a supply system that looks increasingly fragile. And investment in solar power is part of the solution, argues Dr Phil Wu.

Energy security has changed. For most of the past decade, it was a concept that lived in policy papers and international summits. In 2026, it is being felt in electricity bills, in boardroom risk registers, and in the decisions businesses are making about their own infrastructure. The question is no longer whether the lights will stay on at a national level. It is whether your business can keep running when the grid becomes expensive, unpredictable or simply constrained.

Volatile markets

For many years, energy security was largely understood in terms of supply. If the fuel was flowing and the grid was stable, the system was considered sound. That assumption is now being tested on multiple fronts.

Geopolitical instability has once again demonstrated how quickly energy markets respond to disruption. The UK lived through this acutely between 2022 and 2023, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent non-domestic electricity prices to levels not seen in modern times. Many businesses are still absorbing the after-effects. Now, fresh tensions in the Middle East are amplifying the same underlying vulnerability: Britain’s deep dependence on imported fossil fuels and its exposure to markets it cannot control.

Compounding this is a structural shift that tends to get less attention. The explosive growth of AI and data centres is placing new, sustained pressure on electricity systems in a way that is fundamentally different from traditional demand. It is not cyclical or flexible. It is persistent, growing, and concentrated. Grid infrastructure designed for a different energy landscape is being pushed towards its limits, and in many parts of the UK, connection timelines are already extending significantly.

The result is an environment where energy costs are harder to predict, access to sufficient power is increasingly uncertain, and waiting for systemic solutions is no longer a viable strategy for most organisations.

Risk management

What I’m seeing in conversations with commercial property owners, estate managers, and business operators is a real change in how energy is being framed. It has moved from a line item on an overhead budget to a core component of risk management. The nature of enquiries we receive has shifted as much as the volume. People are not primarily asking about carbon targets or sustainability credentials. They are asking about backup power, cost stability, and independence from the grid.

That shift in perspective matters. For a long time, the case for commercial solar rested almost entirely on the environmental argument. Renewable energy was framed as something businesses did to demonstrate responsibility or meet net zero commitments. Those remain important drivers, but they are no longer the whole story. Increasingly, energy transition is about resilience, stability and control.

Solar PV, particularly when combined with battery storage, gives commercial users something genuinely valuable in this environment: the ability to generate and manage their own power. Surplus energy generated during the day can be stored and used during peak price periods, or held in reserve to maintain operations during outages. For sectors where uptime is mission-critical (data centres, logistics hubs, laboratories, manufacturing facilities, etc.) this kind of control represents a fundamental change in how energy infrastructure is being planned.

Missed opportunity

Despite the growing urgency, commercial solar adoption in the UK remains almost entirely untapped. Analysis based on Ordnance Survey data covering more than 40 million buildings suggests that fewer than 4% currently have solar installations, and the vast majority of those are domestic. For commercial property owners, that gap represents both a missed opportunity and a growing strategic risk. Roof space that could be generating power, reducing energy exposure and delivering returns is sitting idle.

The financial case has rarely been stronger. The cost of solar has fallen by around 87% since 2010, according to IRENA, and solar combined with battery storage can now deliver continuous power at costs that compare favourably with most fossil fuel alternatives. Payback periods that once stretched beyond a decade are now considerably shorter for well-specified commercial installations.

One factor that has historically slowed adoption is the friction involved in getting started. A full feasibility assessment of a large commercial portfolio has traditionally required engineer site visits, which are time-consuming and logistically difficult for multi-site organisations. That barrier is now being removed by geospatial AI and LiDAR technology, which can assess the solar potential of any commercial building in under a minute, without a site visit, covering projected costs, savings, payback period, and carbon impact. What once required months of engineering resource can now happen almost instantly.

Local generation

What strikes me most about the current moment is that the organisations taking action are not doing so reluctantly. They are recognising that local energy generation offers something the grid cannot: control. The ability to generate your own power, store it intelligently, and use it on your own terms is becoming a meaningful business advantage, not a sustainability gesture.

The think tank, Institute for Government, has described energy resilience as rising sharply up the national agenda. A recent exercise involving government emergency planners and the National Energy System Operator concluded that energy security must now be treated with the same strategic seriousness as defence capability. For individual businesses, the practical implication is that national grid infrastructure is unlikely to solve this problem quickly enough to be relied upon.

Energy is no longer simply a utility. It is becoming a fundamental part of the infrastructure that underpins modern business operations. The organisations that understand this now, and act accordingly, will be in a considerably stronger position as volatility in global energy markets continues. The question for commercial property owners and business operators is no longer really whether to invest in on-site generation. It is how quickly they can move.

Dr Phil Wu
Founder and director of Absolar Solutions, a commercial solar and battery storage company based at the University of Southampton Science Park.