With the results of a new survey conducted by mortgage lender ING Direct recently revealing that British property buyers regard a solar PV installation as their most desirable "non-essential deal-sealer", Trina Solar's Ben Hill has spoken out to emphasise the need for panel manufacturers to step up their efforts to support installers as they look to meet increasing demand for solar technology.

Solar panels were by some distance the most popular extra property feature, being named by 38 per cent of respondents to the survey and beating off competition as diverse as weekly refuse collection and satellite television connection (32 per cent each), good 3G mobile Internet coverage (20 per cent), and a garden pond (15 per cent).

For Hill, Trina Solar's Head of Europe, these statistics are confirmation of the trends he is seeing in the UK market, where the number of homes generating their own energy using solar panels has risen by 349 per cent since August 2011: "The strong demand we are witnessing is a sure sign that the British public is embracing solar PV. More and more people are recognising the environmental and economic benefits that they can reap from installing solar panels," he said.

But Hill cautions that manufacturers hoping to take advantage of the growing popularity of solar panels among British homebuyers need to make more of an effort to understand the business needs of their installer partners, providing services that match these requirements.

"Mass-producing panels and leaving the matter of getting them onto roofs to someone else just does not cut it," he said.

"There are still very few high-end manufacturers providing the training opportunities, support, and incentives that installers need. Trina Solar has just launched its UK truck roadshow to take its comprehensive installer programme out to the UK market, including visiting Solar Power UK on 2nd-4th October, and London on 8th and 10th October.

"Giving installers and distributors this kind of assistance when it comes to increasing their competence and building their business can only be a good thing, especially as demand for solar PV continues to grow."