Renewable Energy Facts

No. Solar farms are temporary installations with a minimal footprint and ground disturbance, so they do not change either the physical properties of the land, or the policy designation as Green Belt, into brownfield.

After 30-40 years, solar farms are decommissioned, and planning conditions secure the removal of the installation and the return to the previous use.  Landscaping and ecological enhancements proposed as part of the scheme are established and protected during this period and remain in place even after the solar infrastructure is removed.

Brownfield land is that which is subject to a permanent development and planning permission. It is often permanently physically altered by the development, either by removal of soils, engineering, concrete or hardstanding.  

Contrary to popular belief, solar farms in the UK occupy a tiny amount of space, less than 0.01% of all available land. Solar farms are also typically built on unproductive land, which often has a soil quality that does not allow for arable crops. However, they can coexist with agriculture in ways that can even benefit the land and crops, and these are elevated above the ground or spaced apart in a way that allows crops to grow beneath them. Shade-tolerant crops can grow under solar panels, benefitting from the reduced heat and evaporation. The shade can also reduce evaporation from the soil, helping crops retain moisture, which may benefit crops during dry conditions.

Many of our solar farms are designed to support sheep to grazing under and around the solar panels on many of our sites, allowing the landowner to use the land for both energy generation and agriculture.

While rooftops are great for solar panels, the amount of space available on a typical residential or commercial rooftop is very limited. Even if every building in an urban area installed solar panels, the total energy output would still be much less than what could be generated by a large solar field. There would also be a lot more cables to contend with, which typically run underground in solar farms, potentially disrupting the lives of local residents.

Large numbers of flat, empty rooftops are only available in densely built-up urban areas, where energy demand can still exceed what rooftops can supply. This difference is significant when trying to power entire communities or cities. Space for battery storage and proximity to a substation where the clean energy can be fed into the national grid are also much more difficult to secure for rooftop solar.

Both rooftop solar and ground-mounted solar are vital to help us decarbonise the grid, but they solve different problems. You could imagine rooftop solar to be like an electric car, while ground-mounted solar is like a bus or train. One is great at reducing your own emissions, while the other helps reduce the number of people generating emissions overall.

Solar farms are very safe to live near and work on. Solar panels and inverters on site do not emit high levels of electromagnetic fields and do not cause harm to living beings in close proximity. As there is no fossil fuel combustion on site, as with typical power plants, there are no harmful emissions produced on a solar farm either.

Our construction teams follow strict health and safety regulations and are regularly audited. From an environmental view, solar farms are well-regulated even after construction is completed, and proper disposal methods are always in place to avoid contamination.

Our solar farms are designed with wildlife preservation in mind, such as through habitat restoration or avoiding ecologically sensitive areas. All solar farms are compelled to increase the local biodiversity by at least 10%, and our farms routinely exceed this number, so it is safe for humans, plants, and animals to live near our solar farms.

Solar farms are relatively quiet, especially when compared to other energy installations like wind farms or turbine-driven power plants. They operate passively, like a pond filling with rainwater as opposed to a diesel generator powering a mechanical pump.   The most significant noise comes from the inverters, which may create a low hum, but the sound is usually minimal and unlikely to be a disturbance.

Solar farms are also subject to laws surrounding statutory nuisance, such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and are designed in a way as to cause the least amount of noise or other disruption possible.

Most solar farms are connected to the grid, and so have strict output requirements they need to meet as part of the connection agreement. Failure to provide the grid with the energy they are expecting can have serious consequences for the energy provider, grid operator, and consumer. No grid-connected project could lie dormant for any amount of time before incurring major penalties.

Solar farms, just like any business (or person), have bills to pay, be that for leasing the land or general operational costs. These bills must be paid, and so it is against the solar farm operator’s interests to have an asset that produces no electricity.

Despite the prevalence of grey weather, Britain gets plenty of sunlight and is comparable to countries like France and Spain. Sunlight diffused through clouds still activates solar panels, so they can generate electricity even on overcast days.

Solar irradiance is the amount of solar energy, measured in Watts, received per square metre. Levels vary across the UK, but overall there is more than enough to make solar not just viable but profitable.

Solar farms pay business rates just like most other businesses.

In general, business rate distribution is split between local and central government, typically 50/50. However, the retention of business rates from solar farms and other renewable energy projects is designed to favour local authorities, and, as of April 2025, the government is trialling a new scheme whereby local councils keep 100% of the business rates from solar farms.

This is a huge boost to many local economies and comes on top of any earnings the landowner makes or any community funds the solar developer may have set up.

BESS sites are very safe and must comply with a lot of safety regulations in order to operate. Any time there is a risk of fire, it must be taken very seriously, no matter how unlikely it is to occur. We take a “safety by design” approach to our BESS sites, and include guidance from the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) as well as feedback from the local fire services when designing, building, and operating them. 

We also have a 24/7 CCTV and monitoring team, who are able to pick up and resolve issues before they escalate, and heat/smoke detectors are placed all over the site to help increase response time. 

In the unlikely event that a fire does occur, our detailed fire safety plans will be carried out. Comprehensive fire suppression systems are installed, and large water tanks are often situated on site to aid in fire-fighting measures, and we also build water attenuation tanks to ensure any water used in firefighting is well contained and does not contaminate the surrounding area.

Solar farms and BESS sites are temporary structures with planning permission for a set amount of time. At the end of a renewable energy asset’s term, the structures must be removed and the land reinstated to its original state. This is a hard condition for the original planning permission, and breaching it could result in serious consequences.

In the event that the landowner is interested in continuing to use their land for renewable energy, an entirely new planning permission would be needed, resulting in new public consultations, studies, and applications. This process can take years and would not absolve the asset owner of their responsibility to reinstate the land when the lease is finished.

Renewable energy assets are usually connected to the national grid, feeding clean energy into everyone’s homes. This grid connection is also temporary, and it is highly likely that a new grid connection application would be needed as well.