I visited the Eco Building Your Future massive exhibition at London’s ExCel last week and it was interesting to compare it to last year’s, when I remember rows and rows of solar pv c...

I sincerely believe that whilst we have a huge energy source at our disposal, namely the sun (the biggest natural nuclear reactor in our planetary system), which, through human science & technological endeavours can be converted in to a usable and sustainable energy form, solar power will never be finished. I also believe that future developments will make it more efficient and accessible.
This process of course can be accelerated by creating a bigger demand, but this will need to driven by education and government.
This will be one of the main power sources of the future!

Just see what Solar PV can be scaled up to.

www.westmillsolar.coop/home.asp
click on the inspiring video about the launch last year

I completely agree with Robert. Good point. Well made.

Solar Power is far from finished as a useful technology, but its use by RSL's and LA's will now need to be driven by the desire to create better homes and environments for residents rather than as an investment tool.

Like all renewable technologies it suffers as a result of a lack of willingness from people to adapt their attitude and way of living to extract the greatest benefits but is still far easier to get along with than other technologies such as ground source heat pumps.

As others have said, the future of solar will rely on education and a change in attitudes in order to succeed and grow.

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree education and attitudes will be key to embracing solar power; theories from behavioural economics would say that efforts to make choosing and using solar power easy could have a massive impact. Lots of people think it is a 'good' choice but if we can work on making it appear easier and more accessible, the more we will see people use it.

Thanks for sharing that experience Damian - that will be helpful to us sorting out our projects in Streatham south London.

I am an architect who was invited to help with a community land project in Wiltshire. It is an MOD site divided by a railway line .The shopping list of desirsble eco things to do is I consider too many for the acreage available. All the comments focus, in this on line debate, on selling PV on the small scale .It must be much more cost effective to look at bigger strategies.Solar farms are appearing but with world problems over food ,it is taking out of use in many cases usable agricultural land. The site in wiltshire presents an opportunity with staggering implications for solar farming using land which otherwise is very difficult to use. The site has South facing railway embankment on which solar farms could be sited.As the panels do not need siting on roof structures ,installation cost which has to weigh in whether solar is viable or not must be reduced making use of Pv that much more viable.You cannot tell me it even begins to compare with constructing wind farms at sea. The point I am making is there are thousands of acres of South facing embankments adjacent railways. Purchase of the land is not even necessary since it could be rented or leased from Railtrack. A double whammy providing the railways with money to develop their infrastructure and land for schemes like that in Wilshire which frees a site enabling it to expand its brief. A double whammy for the railways and organisations carrying out both domestic and industrial green developments .Plonking PV cells on house roofs is not very appealing ,has maintenance issues and is restricted in the private sector to those able to obtain finance. Economics is about resources and in a small highly populated island we need to look at every single resource as a long term asset.Railway embankments fall in the land category and we should at least examine the viability of their use.I have not found any example of any such scheme . Do any exist?

Hi Gregor,

I was very interested to read your post.

You raised the queries over whether this has been done before, and in my knowledge it has not. The viability of the site from a performance and site characteristic perspective is good; South facing, non-arable land etc..

However, planning permission is an important consideration when examining potential sites for solar farms. My concern with this would be that the planning would be far from straightforward bringing in cost and timeline hurdles.

This might not be the case, depending upon some other details regarding the site. Perhaps you could email me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I can run over a couple of viability considerations for the site?

Best regards,

Jarrah Harburn - National Manager UK

Solar Selections Ltd

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
07 712 445 016

For the interests of all, there are certainly fantastic opportunities present for unused land in the UK through solar farming. We've found arable land to have it's pro's and con's for farmers; they can compare the rates they earn from the crops or share farming with the simple per acre solar calculations (which we can provide instantly) and weigh up their options. When you're looking at set incomes, linked to the Retail Price Index and with ownership of the system possible after a 20 year term (netting very large gains from continued sale of the power even without tariffs); it is all stacking up. Some are concerned about sacrificing food or livestock land for solar panels though and this can be understood from an impartial point of view.

When you consider these positives with regards to land that isn't being used though, such as ones in the hands of the MOD, railway companies or other public or private organisations; solar farming is even more appealing. Utilising a funded (zero capital outlay) approach that someone like us can provide, it is possible to turn an empty field into a cash injection into the company, reinvesting the capital into business growth, sustainability or profit.

The reality of planning permission and grid connection hurdles can be considered in time, anyone with land should explore the thought of solar farming with someone that knows what they are doing. Some will work, some won't; the least we can do is try to make use of our existing resources to assist our energy sector and organisational sustainability.