Solar Farm key facts check

nologo

As title really   A solar farm has been proposed near me & some noisy locals have launched a protest group,to this end a leaflet has been delivered to all the residents locally, on this are some facts, that
may not be true & would like your help in checking them.(The leaflet has some spelling mistakes,including the Instigators own address, which is a worry!)

1,Installed capacity is 35 MW will only generate 10 to 15% of this figure.
.
2, Sheep grazing under the panel will diminish as the pasture is deprived of sunlight,

3,No proof of increased biodiversity if all exiting species are taken into account.

3, Disturbance of the soil during construction may lead to subsoil mixing with topsoil.

This is in Kent.  Pondwood Solar Farm.

Thanks   nologo

Martyn1981

I think they may be struggling a bit to find negatives, so are listing some 'facts' as negatives, which is perhaps a bit naughty. So ...

1. Installed capacity is 35MW, then at times it may generate 35MW, at other times (especially night!) it will be zero. In the UK the capacity factor (cf) for PV is about 11% for well sited fixed PV. In sunnier climes like south US, southern Spain, Australia, this can be 20%, and even higher with simple single axis trackers that rotate the panels from east through flat, to west during the day.

The capacity factor represents the annual generation, v's the stated power at 24/7/365. There's nothing wrong with that figure, PV in the UK does what it does, and is cost competitive with wind.

[Edit - That's not a great explanation. So, in the UK a well sited PV install will generate approx 1,000MWh pa for every MW of installed capacity. So in this example that will be around 35,000MWh (35GWh) pa.

Compare that to 35MW x 24hrs x 365 days which is ~306,600MWh, and we have 35,000/306,000 = 11%]

2. That's an odd one, perhaps a touch of spin again. PV farms are regularly built to be grazed by sheep. It's typically cheaper too, v's having to manage growth. Will there be less total grass, than if it didn't have PV, well yes I suppose, but grazing is a very low efficiency use of land, certainly far less than the cf of PV if that's a genuine concern. Also, the shade can help sheep during hot periods, and also can increase grass growth during long dry periods, when the unshaded grass is getting too much sun/heat.

3. Is also strange. Rather than harp on, I'd suggest Googling exactly this, as there are so many studies showing that PV farms increase pollinators, wild flowers and bio-diversity, v's a crop or simple grazing farmland use.

3 (4?) Maybe that's an issue, I don't know if such things are a major concern or not. It will depend I assume on the type of vehicles being used. But for the panel frames themselves, perhaps try to find out what install technique is planned. Many now use 'groundscrews', and they are simply that, huge screws that go into the ground for stability (example). Then poles are attached into the top of the groundscrew to build the frame from. I believe that the screws/poles have some deliberate flexing to make placement easy and simple by providing 'wiggle room'. [These can also be easily removed again.]


Bear in mind, change is scary for most people. We are actually wired to fear change as a survival technique so it's not wrong, but many people will lean into the fear and take a negative approach to changes, after initial concerns abate. So go gentle, and remember that in a year or two after the PV is up (if it's successful), 99% of people will no longer care.

nologo

Thanks for you reply Martyn1981, I have found several studies about biodiversity increases under solar& am happy about that, I don't really get what the problem is with the total amount generated is as it all helps,
I have walked up to the site today to have a look, several of the fields have not been cultivated for some time & have sheep on anyway.
I will try and find out what sort of mounting system is proposed,(Missed the consultation as the date was wrong in the local paper)

Screwdriva

nologo said:

Thanks for you reply Martyn1981, I have found several studies about biodiversity increases under solar& am happy about that, I don't really get what the problem is with the total amount generated is as it all helps,
I have walked up to the site today to have a look, several of the fields have not been cultivated for some time & have sheep on anyway.
I will try and find out what sort of mounting system is proposed,(Missed the consultation as the date was wrong in the local paper)

In my humble experience, it boils down to 1) aesthetic preference, 2) resistance to change and 3) some (but not all) human's inexplicable desire to attack whatever they don't understand/ agree with.

If the campaigners were serious, they would share that it was Grade 1 or Grade 2 land which is ideal for farming. If it's Grade 3(b) land, then there is no reason not to panel every inch of it. 

Martyn1981

Hi Screwdriva, obviously I'm guessing from what the OP has said, but it sounds like it is probably 3b or lower quality land as you say. Actually, I think it requires a very strong argument to apply to use anything higher, with 3b accounting for the vast majority of PV farm installs.

I'm also reminded of the very old calculation that to generate the equivalent of the UK's entire leccy demand you would need to put panels over 2% of England, and ~2% of England is covered in golf / golf related use. I tested the maths on that, and it seemed to work. But that was nearly 15yrs ago with ~12% efficient panels, now we are at 22%+, so maybe just 1% of England will now do. 

..... or co-locate PV and golf, can't see any problems with that. 

Martyn1981

nologo said:

Thanks for you reply Martyn1981, I have found several studies about biodiversity increases under solar& am happy about that, I don't really get what the problem is with the total amount generated is as it all helps,

Same here. So long as the generation is cost competitive with the other sources, and it is, then the lower cf of PV v's say 20-30% for on-shore wind and 35-55% for off-shore wind is irrelevant. It's how they all play together, and UK PV is strongest, when UK wind is weaker, and vice versa, so they are a nice complement.

Screwdriva

Martyn1981 said:

..... or co-locate PV and golf, can't see any problems with that. 

Except for the odd panel breakage every time I have a swing

nologo

Thanks for all the very helpful replies' further to my research I went view the petition against this proposal 16 signatures so far, (its been a week.)

Heedtheadvice

You might also have web search ) such as on google ) for results of "independant report solar farms" as that will bring up lots of info that could well be interest that include lots of other pros and cons.