Picture courtesy of Juwi

Solar Farms - harvesting the earth’s natural energy

Solar power is part of the country’s strategy to generate clean energy as a way to combat climate change and to provide secure long term energy for the UK. Photovoltaic panels (solar PV) harness the power of natural daylight to produce electricity.

Land-based solar farms were first constructed in the USA nearly 20 years ago and more recently have become increasingly common in parts of mainland Europe, particularly Spain, Italy and Germany.

A ‘solar farm’ is a large number of solar panels mounted on racks fixed to the ground.  The panels are south facing, generally around 1.8m high and are tilted towards the sun. The electricity produced is connected directly to the National Grid.

In April 2010, the UK Government introduced an incentive called the Feed in Tariff. The Feed in Tariff scheme requires energy companies to pay generators for electricity produced from renewable energy technologies, such as PV. The scheme provides renewable energy generators with guaranteed payments for 25 years.

Solar farms in the UK are likely to range between 20 and 40 acres in size with each generating enough electricity annually to supply between 600 and 1200 homes. The first solar farm site in the UK was granted planning permission in September 2010 in Cornwall and a number more are being considered across the country.

Benefits and impact of solar farms
How solar farms are built and work
Leaflet on solar farms
Our proposed sites