Wincanton Solar Farm – Feeding into the Local Grid

Somerset based company, British Renewables, has erected a 78 acre Solar Farm at Hook Valley on the western edge of Wincanton. They are renting fields from three local farms to house the 60,000 Jinko Solar Panels that will feed circa 15.3MW of power into the local grid.

The good old British weather is famous for being unpredictable at the very least, so how can solar power be successful here? Marcus Dixon of British Renewables said that, “today’s solar farms rely on light rather than sunshine”. He said that our lower ambient temperatures also contribute to more effective solar PV generation in the UK.

What does the solar field look like? Is it a blot on the landscape? Marcus claims there is no evidence of negative effects on local communities. Solar fields don’t emit light or noise. Glint and glare are low and non-impacting. Apart from fleeting glimpses as you drive past on the Wincanton Castle Cary road, the solar field is not easily seen.

A solar field of this type requires major financial investment. The cost of building solar farms varies greatly depending on local circumstances, but at the time of writing is generally in the region of £900,000 per MW. Marcus said:

“The electricity produced during the day by the Solar Farm is supplied to the National Grid and used by them to meet demand. 20% of the UK’s fossil fuel power stations will close by 2018. The buffer between maximum power generation and maximum energy demand in the UK will fall from 11% to less than 4% by 2016. OFGEM says that this will lead to an increased risk that ‘the lights will go off’ over the following years.”

Power from Hook Valley entering the grid will most definitely contribute to power drawn down by local communities, but some of that power will also be transferred to meet needs further afield. But as power is sent over large distances there is a natural loss of energy (attenuation), so local use is more efficient, and therefore preferred.

The solar farm was constructed between September 2013 and March 2014, during which time up to 250 people were employed. The seven month construction period beat the average construction time of 12/14 months handsomely.

British Renewables believe solar farms protect and enhance the environment:

• No land is lost as the development is reversible.
• No trees or hedges should be removed.
• Solar farmland becomes organic and fallow for the life of the solar farm.
• No chemicals are used within a solar farm.
• Weed management is a legal requirement within solar parks as it is on all farming land. A solar farm sown with native wildflowers offers a better protection against weeds than one sown for sheep grazing.
• Most solar farm developments include planting of native species of hedges and trees and can include other biodiversity enhancements such as bird and bat boxes, ponds, sky lark strips, native wildflower and native grass planting.
• Solar parks can be entirely planted with managed native wildflower meadows creating ecological reservoirs within their communities.
• Solar farms sown with wildflowers, in particular, make a statistically significant, measurable and fast improvement in the biodiversity of land used by the solar farm for bees, butterflies and plant species.
• At the end of the solar farm’s life a bond in the lease is triggered and the solar farm is removed and recycled – it is made of steel, aluminium, copper wiring and silica. This is paid for by the tenant and not the taxpayer – which is the case for nuclear and fossil fuel power station clean ups
• Each solar farm requires a land management plan, site specific ecological management, additional guidance from local wildlife trusts and national bodies, use of appropriate (local, check provenance) wildflower and grass species. Further biodiversity studies are being undertaken on the ecosystems of solar parks and the optimal management for either or both biodiversity and farming.

Hook Valley Solar Farm is not alone, though. There is a second, smaller solar farm on the south side of the A303 behind the sewage treatment centre. Some wealthy individuals have invested in small-scale solar farms on their own land, and panels are popping up all over town attached to the roofs of private residences.

So whether you’re in favour of solar power or against it, Hook Valley Solar Farm is quietly pumping a lot of power into the grid, an example of a Wincanton service bringing benefit further afield.

Comments

johnbaxter
Posts: 1

Solar Farm
Reply #1 on : Wed September 24, 2014, 09:11:37

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Hardly a thing of beauty, these solar farms are expensive and I believe highly subsidised by the taxpayer - but climate change cannot still be doubted and our need to move away from a carbon burning economy and towards a much more energy efficient economy and way of life is vital if our grandchildren are to survive. John Smith has written an important and informative article. Let us have some comments.

Last Edit: September 24, 2014, 09:12:29 by johnbaxter  

davidsmith
Posts: 1

Re: Wincanton Solar Farm – Feeding into the Local Grid
Reply #2 on : Wed September 24, 2014, 09:27:27

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I know a few people who have installed solar panels to sell the energy back to the "grid" at a profit.

To be clear, is this not the same principle? Is the farm not privately owned and paid for, producing energy to be sold at profit back to the company who have signed a rate contract, perhaps for at least a decade or so?

I remember being told that the government were encouraging solar panels through some kind of financial relief. I wonder if this is the case here, and if so, does it really work out at a net loss for the tax payer?

johnsmith
Posts: 2

Solar Farming
Reply #3 on : Mon September 29, 2014, 09:30:40

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Yes, it is the same principal. Private individuals can buy solar panels and place them on their roofs, selling the power to the generating companies. But if you couldn't afford to pay for the panels some companies offered a free option. You let them put the panels on your roof, and you get a reduction on your electric bill. But they take the majority of the income, as they have invested in the hardware.

The solar farm is the same principal but simply on a much larger scale. Not many people, or businesses can afford to shell out the capital needed to buy and install 60,000 panels. So if you can rent your land for an agreed regular income, the jobs a good one. Good financial sense on the part of those involved in this farm.

As far as a loss to the tax payer is concerned, I will try and find an answer for that one and come back.

Nic Firth
Posts: 1

Re: Wincanton Solar Farm – Feeding into the Local Grid
Reply #4 on : Tue September 30, 2014, 12:20:44

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The future of energy has to be electricity generated through renewable sources; BP recently estimated that we have about 53 years of oil left. However as we have to go deeper to get what's remaining the costs of extracting it will rise, so rather than looking towards 53 years we need to be focusing on 20-30, and these kind of solar farms up and running now is the 1st step on the road to a sustainable energy policy.

johnsmith
Posts: 2

Solar Farm
Reply #5 on : Wed October 01, 2014, 15:10:21

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John Baxter is right about the tax payer subsidising alternative energy. I spoke to the DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) for clarification. The reply was interesting to say the least. This whole thing comes under the heading:

"Renewable Obligation ".

In short, power generating companies don’t want to use alternative means to generate power because at this time they are unprofitable. So Government has to step in and create the circumstances to get them on-board by giving subsidies, so that they don’t lose out.

Ethical/moral voices have been heard and Government is encouraged to start the process of going green. Home owners take advantage of the subsidies and sell the power they generate to the big electricity producers. Solar farms are simply a scaled up version.

Any costs incurred by the main power producers in this field go the same way as all costs. Onto our bills. They don’t lose out. But the picture may well be changing. The price per unit paid to day is considerably less than the original rate.

The cost of solar panels has also come down dramatically. I remember being quoted between £15,000 and £20,000 for an installation. That same installation would now only cost about £10,000. So although the price per unit being offered is gradually being reduced, the parallel reduction in the installation costs is also going down.

The final juicy tit-bit offered by the DECC was that they believe that on-going improvement in technology and reducing costs of panels would mean that there will come a point where it is actually cheaper to provide solar energy than by using current forms of fossil fuel or nuclear power.

Believe it or not the date mentioned during my conversation was 2018.

Last Edit: October 01, 2014, 15:11:46 by johnsmith  

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