Are solar farms built with the landscape in mind?
Absolutely, we work closely with communities to ensure that our solar farms blend in and restore traditional meadows and hedgerows to the countryside. The maximum height of our solar panels is three metres, which is the equivalent of a well-maintained hedgerow.
Do solar panels create glint and glare?
Solar panels are designed to absorb light not reflect it. The more light a panel absorbs, the more power it will generate. Modern panels are installed with an anti-reflective coating, to maximise efficiency, and reduce glint and glare that is typically presented as an issue on older solar farms.
Why are most solar farms built on agricultural land?
Being one of the cheapest forms of clean renewable energy, a fivefold increase in solar capacity is anticipated by 2035 in the Government’s Energy Security Strategy 2022. This cannot be achieved through rooftop and brownfield solar installations alone, as they have considerable practical barriers of their own.
Many domestic and industrial buildings either do not have roofs made of suitable material to support a solar system, do not have the infrastructure to export electricity to the gird, or simply present as an unaffordable solution, with initial costs of installation too high for some. As a result, agricultural land typically of moderate or low quality is also used, without impacting on food security. New build residential dwellings will need to consider renewable sources of electricity and heat supply under the Future Homes Standard from 2025.
Does land used for solar farms reduce food security?
No. The UK Food Security Report states that climate change is one of the largest threats to domestic food production and solar farms provide an opportunity to significantly reduce carbon emissions. Solar farms provide valuable income for farmers and can still be used for grazing (sheep or chicken) due to the spacing between the rows of panels allowing a high quality grassland to grow around/underneath the panels. There are many excellent examples of successful sheep and chicken farms across the country that run pastoral farms within an existing solar farm.
How much space will solar farms take up?
Very little. Even under 2050 Net Zero targets, Solar farms would occupy around 0.3% of the UK’s land – less that what is currently used by golf courses.
Once built, will the development be noisy?
Panels are generally static, so do not produce any noise. We undertake a full background noise assessment to ensure any noise that is generated is within acceptable levels. Any items which may generate noise are placed in the centre of the site, away from houses.
Will there be much disturbance during construction?
We aim to access sites and manage all traffic in such a way that it will have a minimum impact on surrounding communities We compose a construction traffic management plan which is prepared with the input from the local Highway Authority.
Will there be fencing around the site?
As is commonplace across farms on the countryside and in allotments, we install a deer fence (wooden posts and wire) around the site in order to keep it secure. The fencing includes mammal gates that will allow small animals to pass through, and our designs include green corridors to ensure free movement of wildlife through the site.
