COMMUNITY
RENEWABLES

Solar farms are generally really positive for nature and wildlife and can help reverse the dramatic declines caused by intensive farming reliant on chemicals and removal of habitats. Solar farms are proven to increase biodiversity by becoming mini-nature reserves, with ecological enhancements including wildflower meadows, new trees and hedgerows, ponds, beehives, bird and bat boxes. 

Potential changes to biodiversity value on a site – both positive and negative – can be quantified through the use of the statutory biodiversity metric. This gives an accurate representation of the current state of biodiversity on a site, but it is also used to predict the resulting condition of biodiversity once the development has been completed. Looking at both the pre-development measurement and predicted post-development measurement, an ecologist then establishes the net gain for a particular site. 

While a minimum Biodiversity Net Gain of 10% became mandatory for all new developments in 2024, BWCE’s solar farms aim to deliver much more than this. We undertake ecological surveys and develop the site to deliver a significant net gain in biodiversity, far above the minimum required by planning policy, meaning an overall increase in natural habitat and ecological features. 

Noise surveys are not always required for solar farms due to the minimal noise impact. However, BWCE will always take potential noise impact seriously and carry out noise assessments where appropriate. There are some devices such as inverters and transformers which produces a faint humming noise, but careful siting will minimise or eliminate any noise impact.

The rental income from solar farms helps farm businesses diversify, carrying them through when times are tough and helping them to continue with farming. They can also continue to graze the land between and around solar panels.  

Solar farms are a temporary and fully reversible land use, with restoration of land at the end of the solar farm’s life usually guaranteed by a planning condition.

Solar helps secure UK food production – now and in the future – by supporting farmers over the long term. Numerous research shows that the proportion of farmland needed to deliver our 2030 solar targets is tiny – less than 0.5%. Agriculture can and does continue alongside solar generation. 

The Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) System classifies land from Grade 1 (excellent) to Grade 5 (very poor quality) based on its agricultural limitations. Land classification for solar development prioritises lower-grade agricultural land (3b, 4 and 5) over Best and Most Versatile (BMV) land (Grades 1, 2, and 3a) to protect food security. An Agricultural Land Classification survey is required to determine land quality and guide site selection, with developers needing to justify using higher-grade land. The goal is to balance energy needs with environmental concerns, such as minimising impacts on biodiversity and soil health.

Although this was not possible in the past, it is now possible to buy solar directly from a certain solar farm via a local supply scheme. BWCE are planning trials in local supply from suitable projects.

A good site requires a balance of factors including supportive landowner and local community, distance from viable grid connection and cost of grid connection, avoiding grade 1 or 2 agricultural land, limited or manageable visual impact, ease of access to site, the size of the site and slope of the land. 

Once a suitable site is located and technical feasibility is completed, we engage with the local community early and often through public meetings, one-on-one conversations with neighbours and landowners, and updates via our website.

It will certainly be important to put solar on as many roofs as possible, including all new domestic and non-domestic buildings. But it cannot be either/or, we must be doing both rooftop and ground mounted schemes. 

We know from the climate science that we have 10 years to take significant action to reduce carbon emissions to address this climate crisis. So, we are in a race to ensure that we provide an environment within which our children and grandchildren can thrive. This means that we need to progress all our options in parallel, not do all the roofs, and only then consider ground mounted solar. The same applies to energy efficiency. It’s desperately important that we reduce the amount of energy we use, but we can’t wait while we do that before we install renewable energy. 

Bath and North East Somerset Council have set significant renewable energy targets in order to underpin their commitment to leading the transition to carbon neutrality in the local area by 2030. We need to find a balance of scale and location to be able to decarbonise the local electricity grid over the next decade.

The other consideration is what can be delivered through the sort of community energy model that we operate. It is currently not viable for us to deliver community owned solar at a small domestic scale. We do provide free solar PV on larger community and commercial buildings where the building has high enough electricity demand to be able to use most of the electricity generated by the solar PV on site. 

Solar farms generally have a lifespan of 30-40 years. At the end of their lifespan, solar farms are fully decommissioned and the land is returned to its original condition based on a photographic schedule. Any piles will be removed to 1.2m below ground, so the earth can be ploughed if returning to agricultural use. 

The solar panels are comprised of glass, silica, aluminium, steel, copper and plastic, which are largely recyclable with a good salvage value. Approximately 96-99% of the solar panel can be recycled. 

Yes, there is a carbon footprint, but it will be offset by the renewable energy generated. Solar energy has some of the lowest life-cycle emissions of any energy source.

The only traffic impact on the local community is during construction. Peak HGV movements are usually in the first 1-2 months of building the solar farm, when components are delivered to the site. After that, they fall off sharply.

BWCE’s priorities are to minimise disruption and to ensure the safety of other road users, and we will work with the local authority to produce a Construction Traffic Management Plan that sets out clearly the measures that will be implemented to do this.