Solar farms, two come along...

Amazing isn't it. You can be going about your business for years, commenting on how important it is to have renewable energy, improving energy efficiency and other such issues. But you don't see any big projects in your area.

Then hey presto! two come along at the same time.

Within cycling distance of Waterlooville, a small 5 megawatt solar energy farm is proposed to be built at Lovedean. The developers say that it will produce enough energy for the houses of Lovedean, Catherington and Horndean.

The second proposal is for a much bigger solar energy farm near Fareham about 10 times bigger than the Lovedean proposal, the output of this project would be 47 megawatts enough to power about 14,000 homes.

So what do these projects have in common?

They will use photovoltaic solar panels to produce electricity, these are the same panels that are becoming a common sight on the roofs of homes throughout Havant Borough. The 'farms' panels will be connected to the national grid and will offset some of the carbon emissions that are normally produced by big power stations.

The great thing about this type of system is that the panels stand above the ground and they don't need big concrete foundations. So underneath the panels, plants can grow and animals can rummage around.
On the larger project the company propose to graze sheep amongst the panels and plant wild flowers around the perimeter.

Should be interesting to see how this goes. We desperately need to reduce carbon emissions, this years weather (across the world, not just the UK) is a clear indicator of the consequences of doing nothing and the tremendous costs both in life and money.