Farmers swapping crops for solar

[dan_b]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... han-double

Interesting point here about the DNO having changed its policy for connections by enabling some sort of flexible generation mechanism which the DNO controls?

[Oliver90owner]

A friend (relatively a small farmer these days) was looking at these alternatives but was worried that at the end of the term, who pays for the return to agricultural land if the original contract was between the farmer and a company that ‘disappeared’ (a bit like dodgy double glazing companies or wind turbine manufacturers that go bust). Clearing twenty five hectares of defunct panels in the future was not appealing.

There are ‘cons’ to consider as well as ‘pros’ with all these offers. The advertising rarely gives an insight to the risks.

On the other side, I know of one farmer who had a large area put down to solar panels and is planning to have another similar area (or larger) converted. I’m not sure of the current installed output, but it could be as much as 10MW. He is held up waiting for a bigger connection to the grid at the moment.

[Stinsy]

I farmer near me converted a field previously used to grow rape/barley into solar. I was surprised how many concrete trucks where required. There is no way that field could ever be economically converted back to arable. I assume others are similar.

[spread-tee]

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

[dan_b]

I seem to remember on the other place that there was also much discussion about the potential for solar PV farms to co-exist with productive farmland - mounting the panels higher allows grazing animals like sheep to go about their business? Wonder why that's not mandatory for solar-in-productive-farmland type installs?

[Bugtownboy]

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

When we get, as promised, fusion powered free electricity, solar will be too expensive.

[Paul_F]

When we get, as promised, fusion powered free electricity, solar will be too expensive.

Predicted cost of fusion power is in the region of £50-60/MWh - solar is about the same price, depending on how you work out the cost of capital for both.

[Stinsy]

I seem to remember on the other place that there was also much discussion about the potential for solar PV farms to co-exist with productive farmland - mounting the panels higher allows grazing animals like sheep to go about their business? Wonder why that's not mandatory for solar-in-productive-farmland type installs?

Most farmers supplement their sheep with additional feed because the field doesn't produce enough grass. However dense the solar panels and however high, the grass yields will be significantly lower. Therefore whatever sheep/acre ratio will be a tiny fraction with solar of what it was before.

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?

[nowty]

When we get, as promised, fusion powered free electricity, solar will be too expensive.

Predicted cost of fusion power is in the region of £50-60/MWh - solar is about the same price, depending on how you work out the cost of capital for both.

Buts its predicted to be 30 years away and its always been 30 years away. And in 30 years time I predict that there will be enough renewables, storage, hydrogen, etc, that fusion will become irrelevant and die a slow death. Just in the same way as fast breeder reactors did, i.e. the ones that were supposed to burn the huge stockpiles of plutonium. And also like nuclear re-processing is dying a slow death, where most spent nuclear fuel now is now just stored intact indefinitely.

[Mr Gus]

Only a fool of a farmer would give up the most highly productive land, because first & foremost you are a food producer (arable / cattle)
So poor yield, awkward shape for modern tractors & practise are first to be considered & put forward, but less of a problem if you happen to be a big county landowning farmer (different set of rules apply).

& land rather than stacking it with just solar will recover better by higher panels & grazing practice, in rotation with other fields or to separate / rest certain livestock, we are always looking at "too much" agri-chemical use, here is a chance to set aside / slow turn around the soil on a microorganism & general diversity manner & should have been resolved years ago, but of course big business doesn't operate like that & sometimes farmers can't see the wood for the trees.

A solar farm isn't going to become a tyre dump, but the footprint does need addressing from numerous angles.
If you want to plant supports then how about a non leaching recycled plastic "log" support that can be at worst "dug up" (or ploughed out) as part of any back to planting process down the line?

Likely though that as power is laid it will be updated & re-used by negotiation or removed (if the contract is not intended to do up the farmer like a kipper) however, they also have input & solicitors to query prior to signing up for solar.

Typically you sell off your corners & your low output land, unless forced sale via government as happened to us back in the day for a non realistic (low) price foisted upon the family.

Corners aren't necessarily the aspect / size modern farms want but farmland is often pretty old & historically you might keep a small field corner for yourself to build on & maintain a distance from the village to whom you sold land to