EV charging is often treated as the obvious diversification route for electrical contractors, but while it is clearly a growing sector, it is only one market among several specialist niches for electricians. Solar PV, domestic battery storage, workplace charging, public charging infrastructure support and retrofit energy projects each carry different technical and commercial requirements. Grouping them together as “green work” is too blunt for business planning. Each niche needs a separate training decision: what competence is required, who will complete the work, what equipment is needed, what documentation must be issued, and whether the service fits the customers you already serve. Read on as we explore how electrical contractors can test specialist markets before expanding their services.
Ev Charging Is Not A Unified Market
It’s worth emphasising that EV charging is not a single, tightly defined market. The Department for Transport distinguishes between charging devices and EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment), for example. EVSE means the part of a charging device that controls a charging session and enables one electric vehicle to charge at a time. As of January 2026, the UK had 116,052 EV chargers and 87,796 charging devices, an average of 1.32 EV chargers per device.
This distinction is useful for contractors because public charging, workplace charging and domestic charging are not operationally identical. A domestic charge point may sit alongside load assessment, customer handover and future solar or battery plans. Workplace charging may involve parking arrangements, multiple users, management systems, existing distribution capacity and longer-term maintenance expectations. Public infrastructure work can bring more complex access, civil works, commissioning and uptime expectations.
Before investing in EV charging station installation training, therefore, decide which EV market or subsector you are entering.
Solar Pv And Storage Require Their Own Service Model
Government data shows 269,000 solar installations were completed in 2025, including around 255,000 rooftop installations. The UK also passed two million total solar installations in March 2026. That does not turn every electrical contractor into potential ‘solar power electricians’ overnight, but it does show that rooftop solar is no longer a niche topic for homeowners and small businesses.
Battery storage has also become a separately measured domestic category. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ – est. 2023) now publishes regular MCS-certified domestic battery installation statistics, using data from the MCS Installation Database and covering capacity and cost statistics. For your business, solar PV and house battery storage UK work should not be treated as add-ons to standard domestic installations, as they also bring system design, isolation, labelling, AC and DC interfaces, manufacturer requirements, customer handover and future maintenance considerations.
Audit The Workflow Before Promoting The Service
Before you sell a specialist service, it’s worth mapping the workflow in detail. For instance, who in your team will survey? Who will assess the existing supply and installation? Who will design or interpret the design? Who will install? Who will inspect and test? Who will issue documentation? Who will handle aftercare?
A small pilot is the safest way to test this. Train one or two people first, select suitable jobs, review the records after each installation, and check whether the work fits your pricing, scheduling and supervision model. If the job depends on knowledge held by one person, the service is not yet scalable. A contractor diversification plan should ideally be written around evidence, including your trained staff, job records, certification, customer demand, installation review and repeatability. Demand data can point you towards a market, sure, but internal competence still decides whether the service is ready to sell.
Next steps
If you would like to find out more about specialist training in EV charging station installation, solar PV installation, and other niche areas, please contact one of our training advisers today by clicking here, or call us directly on 01442 501223.
