Farmers swapping crops for solar

[spread-tee]

I

People I know on the Island who have moved from farming to camping and now solar seem to be making more than enough to set aside a bit to pay for the clear up at the end of the term. The residual values would probably go quite a way to the clear up also. What's to stop them just carrying on as a generator anyway?

Speer

There is nothing wrong with having the field permanently generating electricity. However I was surprised to see how much concrete was involved therefore implying the transition is permanent and the field can never again be used for arable. Many commercial solar farms are finding that it is economical to switch to the latest panels every 10 years (that is where the container-loads of used panels come from), I wonder how much of the mounting infrastructure is scrapped and rebuilt when they upgrade the solar farms?

I couldn't tell you if the install I was referring to was built on concrete or not, but I wonder if they could be fixed onto screw piles. I bet they would be pretty easy to wind out of the ground if the land was to be reverted to arable . The people I was talking to regarded farming as a back breaking way of loosing money while Solar PV was a much easier earner, it must be hard to resist.

peed

[Mr Gus]

Concrete isn't "permanent" necessarily.

Plenty of disappeared RAF / USAF runways base stations & airfield associated buildings destroyed & ploughed under all across east anglia & elsewhere.
Bases every few miles crisscrossing the place are ploughed under with very little physical evidence of ever being there. in my own village the base was home to big bombers & around 3000 personnel.

A few buildings left for farmers to use in the recovery period after the war, most that I knew of (airfields local to me) were long gone by the 1970's, the term jerry built contributed towards their lack of second life.

Contracts always worth passing over the hands of the NFU regional offices & your own solicitors before you sign an agreement for these things & find you are in charge of clear up which will have more sway than a bad one & no help from govt especially if it causes environmental problems (which thank god solar is unlikely too, however if there are any big battery hook up options you have got to think ahead.

Solar slabs are likely to be akin to oversized railway sleepers surely? (therefore breakable or removable via leverage) buildings for power connections that's going to be another matter.

Maybe a soil aerator (compressed air "thumper") to help shake compacted soil & assist freeing out of the slabs if panels & supports are removed.

[Mr Gus]

Putting this here, because of previous comments about slabs of concrete in solar fields (which is a correct statement of concern)

The earthscrew bore / ground screw bores...
& elsewhere, similarly instead of foundations for houses "helical piles" (inserted by a mini-cat)

[spread-tee]

Great things these, I've built a few garden offices on them, 75cm long with a load capacity of 430kG, and they can be wound in by hand on most soil types. We normally get the foundations done for a 6 by 6m timber frame building done in a day. It sounds ideal for a ground mount array.

Desp

[Mr Gus]

Thanks for the input desp, how much are these in the UK & what were you using to get them turning steadily?
Seems like these are what we should be using for a minimal scrape ground prep footprint ..a few holes to fill when the site is finished with compared to slab removal.

[Mart]

Totally agree with Desp about the ground screws, I'm sure I first heard mention of these, for PV arrays, about 5yrs ago. Also, but now doubting myself, that the PV design has a slightly flexible top section, so that when the frame uprights are added, it'll all come together square(ish), without the need for the ground screws to be installed millimetre perfect.

[Mr Gus]

Ergo, less concrete, less environmental footprint spoilage (as per earlier posts) going in & coming out at end of life / lease.

Wonder what the commercial scale cost comparisons for a 25 acre solar farm are?

[spread-tee]

Thanks for the input desp, how much are these in the UK & what were you using to get them turning steadily?
Seems like these are what we should be using for a minimal scrape ground prep footprint ..a few holes to fill when the site is finished with compared to slab removal.

They sell us a bar that slots into the top of the screw which is about 1.5m long, then two of us walk around the capstan a few times and wind it in, each one takes about 10 minutes. We usually drill down 65cm with a 25mm sds max drill bit to act as a pilot, but it doesn't really need that.
The last kit we purchased was 42 screws, adjustable brackets to bolt the timbers onto for each screw, the bar, was about 1400 quid including the VAT and cost us two man days to install. A couple of grand all up for the footings for a 40m2 plus timber frame building is a result I reckon.
As a bonus we don't churn the garden into a swamp with all the diggery.

Desp

Structure Type Workshop
Base Type Joist
Base Dimensions 5 m x 7 m (16.4 ft x 22.97 ft)
Base Area 35 m2 (376.71 ft2)
Joist Size 4", 5", 6" x 2"
Additional Loads 2001 kg to 2500 kg
Ground Screw Length 750mm
Securing Brackets Premium Joist Brackets
Fitting Option Buy ground screws, brackets and fixings for self-installation
Ground Screws for Base Area 30 (5 rows of 6)
Maximum Joist Span 1.5 m
Extra Screws for Heavy Load Areas 12
Recommended Install Range Ground level to 300mm above ground
Maximum Load in Solid Ground 12,900 kg (430 kg per screw)
Product Qty Each Total
750mm Self Install Ground Screw 42 £27.99 £1,175.58
Premium Bracket System for 4" x 2", 5" x 2" & 6" x 2" Joists 42 £10.91 £458.22
Ground Screw Installation Tool 1 £34.99 £34.99
Subtotal £1,668.79 + VAT


This was the costings for the last lot we installed as far as I know the workshop is still there

[Mr Gus]

Lots of salient info there, thanks again desp, easily visualized with the details you gave, puts meat on bones.