COVERING GOOD FOOD GROWING LAND WITH SOLAR PANELS?

Rather mixed feelings. Those thousands of acres of solar panels will produce many, many times the energy of the same acreage in maize for biogas, although in direct correlation to the amount of sunshine.
I rather wish that there was someone who made solar panel roofs, rather than plonking them on as an add-on. I might shove up a straw barn or two if that was the case.
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Rather mixed feelings. Those thousands of acres of solar panels will produce many, many times the energy of the same acreage in maize for biogas, although in direct correlation to the amount of sunshine.
I rather wish that there was someone who made solar panel roofs, rather than plonking them on as an add-on. I might shove up a straw barn or two if that was the case.
In roof panels (as opposed to on roof) are getting more common. As an alternative to a slate roof I don't think theyre prohibitive, but whether they look expensive as a fibre cement replacement?
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
To answer a few questions, but firstly, no I don’t have any free standing.
It is vastly more efficient to use solar than grow maize for a digester to produce electricity.
Some thing in the region of 25 acres of maize to produce the energy return 1 acre of panels produce.
There is no reason grazing cannot be continued provided the wires have been properly conducted
These new solar farms gain no FIT or other subsidy. So consumers do not neccessarily pay more, unlike projected nuclear stations.
 
I do believe all of these solar farms should be set up so they can at least be grazed by sheep under the panels. It should also be a planning requirement.
Must be a win win for Co2 reduction that way.

We used to graze two of these, but they have now changed hands (we think to BP) and the new owners have stopped any grazing and now just mow under them.

BP Lightsource aren’t the best. Sheep should be able to graze under with no concerns.

mowing will catch them out, impossible to get under the 2 legged designs, if it’s not grazed it will have to sprayed else brambles etc will set in.

What grows under them ? Surely a certain square inch of land can only be hit by the ray of sunshine once, it's either hitting a solar panel or the earth ? Genuine question not being funny, never seen a solar farm in the flesh. We have a couple of roof systems, one making 12v the other into the grid, they both on roofs.
I agree with the OP they should be illegal on farmland. Windmills I like.

still graze sheep. Depending on amount of usable land And grid size the density will dictate the optimum design. Plenty of sun will hit the ground in the middle of the day, the skill iscatching low winter sun and early / late summer sun.
Why not a Tesla?

his SF wasn’t big enough to stretch that far? 😂😂
 

goodevans

Member
Just a crop like any other as far as I am concerned.
Plenty of farmers grew crops for intervention or based on subs, what's the difference,
Plenty of crops were grown to feed horses a hundred years ago,wasnt it about 25 % of production,solar panels seem more environmentally friendly than AD plants,perhaps some one could come along and do the maths but when I did it fag packet style I thought solar panels used about 10% of area compared to AD for same output
 
Plenty of crops were grown to feed horses a hundred years ago,wasnt it about 25 % of production,solar panels seem more environmentally friendly than AD plants,perhaps some one could come along and do the maths but when I did it fag packet style I thought solar panels used about 10% of area compared to AD for same output

see #26.

I’ve not heard of a SF built on grade 1 or 2 land, tbh I doubt they would get planning.
 

Stuart J

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
UK
seems very wrong to me, read that plans to build a very large solar farm covering a couple of thousands of acres north suffolk ,cambridgeshire area, what do others think ? i can see the point of covering large roofs such as warehouses or any roofs, i think that all this large scale new house building thats going on or will be built in the future should have to have solar panels built from new as law, but not surely on good arable land that we are loosing to development and have not much at all ?

What about good food growing land growing crops for whisky? Is that not also a waste?
 

kfpben

Member
Location
Mid Hampshire
Solar farms are hideous.
I’d rather live next to a housing or industrial estate. At least they are providing jobs and/or housing. Put them on roofs for goodness sake.

Massively affect the public perception of farmers too- a farmer near put one in and ten years later half the village still won’t speak to them. It’s not a big community either. Is it really worth it?
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Solar farms are hideous.
I’d rather live next to a housing or industrial estate. At least they are providing jobs and/or housing. Put them on roofs for goodness sake.

Massively affect the public perception of farmers too- a farmer near put one in and ten years later half the village still won’t speak to them. It’s not a big community either. Is it really worth it?
Some one nameless said they would never put in a solar farm , until all his friendly village neighbours objected to him replacing his old chicken sheds with new.
This is a village which prides itself on its green credentials. So he thought he would retrieve his reputation with 30 odd acres of panels.
Strangely it did not 😂

We moved from our small village many years ago, one chap was a regular thorn in the side, parish councillor and all that.
Saw him a few years back at a funeral, said to me, never realised what a good chap your father was, till you left.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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