Solar Farm letters

[curlietailz]

Everything is negotiable
Get a good land agent
And
A good solicitor with renewables e perience
And push HARD
If your site is what they want they will bend
If it’s not that good they wont

As for Ag relief and business relief and IH reliefs !!!! Richi Sunak has to pay for Covid somehow. What’s in place not isn’t going to be there in 30-40 years time when the solar is ended ....

guaranteed index linked income every quarter

 

[Doing it for the kids]

^^^^ this! ^^^^

 

[MrNoo]

Think most of us will be 6ft under in 40 years time!! Murmurings of start date end of month here but wont hold my breath!!

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Think most of us will be 6ft under in 40 years time!! Murmurings of start date end of month here but wont hold my breath!!

finally, drove past the other day and wondered how you were getting on!

perfect time of year to start, even on your boys ground

 

[steveR]

finally, drove past the other day and wondered how you were getting on!

perfect time of year to start, even on your boys ground

It does seem to be a strange habit of the Solar Contractors to work through Winter....

 

[MrNoo]

It does seem to be a strange habit of the Solar Contractors to work through Winter....

Not wrong, two of the roadside fields are horrendous green/blue clay underneath, the rest is brash. I did warn the powers that be as did the geological bods that once it gets wet they wont get near them and will be up to their axles but then they know best!!!
Will keep you all posted!

 

[steveR]

Not wrong, two of the roadside fields are horrendous green/blue clay underneath, the rest is brash. I did warn the powers that be as did the geological bods that once it gets wet they wont get near them and will be up to their axles but then they know best!!!
Will keep you all posted!

Ahhh its amazing where they can get with tracked Bobcats....

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Dust off the straw trailer with wide tyres and get ready to charge them for haulage..... the first of many nice little earners!

identical here, started first 5mw in nov but had to have the lot done by March so had no choice. Skid steer forklifts on tracks all got stuck / lost tracks. Jcb were out every day fixing them.

still, its all lovely grass clover mix’s now grazing sheep, no one would know About that, that’s the point.

hope it goes well for you

 

[steveR]

Dust off the straw trailer with wide tyres and get ready to charge them for haulage..... the first of many nice little earners!

identical here, started first 5mw in nov but had to have the lot done by March so had no choice. Skid steer forklifts on tracks all got stuck / lost tracks. Jcb were out every day fixing them.

still, its all lovely grass clover mix’s now grazing sheep, no one would know About that, that’s the point.

hope it goes well for you

Sounds familiar!

The best tale here I reckon was the complete failure of the access track through the site, put in by the cowboy civils contractors.

The internal track was to gain access for the inverter units, arriving as the usual prefab containers. I saw the track go in and commented to teh Contracts Manager that it was under engineered, based on my experience of the land and a farm track I put in 15 years before... But I am an ignorant Famer and the civils people knew what they were doing was the implied response. Hah, 6" of topsoil taken off, a membrane and then some MOT stone does not make a roadway...

A few weeks later the access track looked the like a bomb site, so more MOT was put down in anticipation of teh big stuff arriving... The first probem was the crane, boy was that one big and heavy device, especially when he "fell off" the track, I had to get a neighbour in with a 200hp tractor to get him out. Then I came down to watch the fun of an artic with a 25 ton inverter unit on, backing up.... Not snowflake in hells chance!!! 10 yds, and his trailer was disappearing, mate pulled him back up. The real problem was that there were now 3 of these inverters backed up waiting....

Solution arrived on site 3-4 days later, a container carrying fltabed unit from Germany, running on tracks and looking like a tank chassis, and a second crane.... The sheer cost was staggering... The trailers with the inverters were parked for the whole time and a tractor unit remained to move them, driver sitting in a cab. £100K+ was mentioned.

All because the civils contractor had screwed up, and continued to screw up his site work*. He folded his business and went back South, and I ended up getting very involved sorting out problems and getting local contractors in...emails from the Contract manager now in the Phillipines, "instructing" me!!

The roadway should have been built properly in the first instance as it is still a problem 5 years on and needs stone every couple of years...



* Might have been because the Contract Manager had the serious Hots for the Civils contractors rather tasty Wife....

 

[warksfarmer]

One has to wonder whether at the end of the lease it will emerge in many cases that this money has mysteriously disappeared. A large pot of money just sat there doing nothing for decades is going to be a honey pot for all manner of shady shenanigans. Especially when the assets are changing hands so regularly. Just because money is supposed to be secure doesn't mean it is. Ask the Maxwell pensioners. And I bet there's a lot less controls in place over what happens to these escrow accounts than there are on pension funds.

They are reviewed every 12 months by both parties via solicitors. The account can not be accessed by one party. Both parties have to agree to access the funds.

 

[Exfarmer]

They are reviewed every 12 months by both parties via solicitors. The account can not be accessed by one party. Both parties have to agree to access the funds.

In that case, professional fees will have accounted for every penny

I dont think there are going to be many arguments at the end of the day. Those panels will still be producing a lot of power, even if they have dropped production by 50% on average, a solar farm should still be chucking out £3,000 a year per acre at todays prices.
The panels are basically glass and aluminium so there is value there to recycle. The only issue may be is early ones had concrete footings , which I think any decent digger would lift straight out. Place in crusher and you quickly sort the issue.
A completely different story if you have allowed a company to place a large Digster in your yard, the best hope there is to convert it to some futuristic housing

 

[warksfarmer]

In that case, professional fees will have accounted for every penny

I dont think there are going to be many arguments at the end of the day. Those panels will still be producing a lot of power, even if they have dropped production by 50% on average, a solar farm should still be chucking out £3,000 a year per acre at todays prices.
The panels are basically glass and aluminium so there is value there to recycle. The only issue may be is early ones had concrete footings , which I think any decent digger would lift straight out. Place in crusher and you quickly sort the issue.
A completely different story if you have allowed a company to place a large Digster in your yard, the best hope there is to convert it to some futuristic housing

Annual solicitor fee paid by the other party. The escrow account isn’t touched.

 

[warksfarmer]

I’ve seen 40yr old panels still producing at 40% efficiency in Germany. At current electricity prices that’s £4800/acre/year easily. If you actually work out the precise area the panels cover rather than the entire fields, it’s actually a lot more.

 

[Exfarmer]

I’ve seen 40yr old panels still producing at 40% efficiency in Germany. At current electricity prices that’s £4800/acre/year easily. If you actually work out the precise area the panels cover rather than the entire fields, it’s actually a lot more.

I do not understand this great concern about ripping them out after 20 years. I would be more concerned the operators have not got some automatic renewal clause in the lease

 

[steveR]

In that case, professional fees will have accounted for every penny

I dont think there are going to be many arguments at the end of the day. Those panels will still be producing a lot of power, even if they have dropped production by 50% on average, a solar farm should still be chucking out £3,000 a year per acre at todays prices.

That is my hope.... Talking with the O&M Engineers this year and some sites are being looked at to be upgraded already after 5-6 yrs!

Our site has 15 years to go and I wonder what the economics are on it being upgraded before end of Lease?? But your worst case of 50% drop, is still a viable output for a small family company ;-)

 

[i dont belief it]

I have had four enquires by different companies and when I ask them to buy the land it all goes quiet why?

 

[Doing it for the kids]

I have had four enquires by different companies and when I ask them to buy the land it all goes quiet why?

way too much risk. Besides the pension companies would rather buy the lease than the land.

I do not understand this great concern about ripping them out after 20 years. I would be more concerned the operators have not got some automatic renewal clause in the lease

most now have a 5 yr extension option I think.

we must remember that planning is temporary. One would hope that new applications will be forthcoming but who knows?!

 

[henman]

Dismantling bond doesn’t start being created til the last 5 years or so. It’s not sat there for decades.

our bond was placed before they started around £2000 acre, it takes two of us to release the bond, me and solar operator .Also I was told the panels had a value because of the precious metals in them, and they have developed machines to recycle the panels already.

 

[MrNoo]

It does seem to be a strange habit of the Solar Contractors to work through Winter....

Well officially start date is now Nov 16th week commencing, I heard today. Am sure there will be plenty of pictures of machines stuck up to their axles to follow shortly afterwards!

 

[steveR]

our bond was placed before they started around £2000 acre, it takes two of us to release the bond, me and solar operator .Also I was told the panels had a value because of the precious metals in them, and they have developed machines to recycle the panels already.

Had a huge pile of faulty Panels here from this build and also brought from another site, 20 miles away. In theory,. they were going to be recycled, in practice, they would be dumped... There was a panel mountain somewhere, wher all these were taken...

4-5 years on, may be better.