“From the ridgetop lane at Hildon, it is clear the downs across the river on the opposite side of the valley have been transformed – lush green fields and grassland replaced by a shield of unyielding blue.
But it’s only from the air that the true colossal scale of Hampshire’s newest solar energy farm becomes apparent: even from several miles away, it looks like a vast, inland sea.
Less than seven months ago, this newspaper revealed that local Tory councillor Daniel Busk, chairman of the Test Valley Borough Council planning committee, had managed to obtain extremely lucrative permission from his own committee colleagues for the construction of a 150-acre array of solar panels on land owned by his family trust around his home near Houghton.
Last week it was finished, built in record time by PS Renewables, which operates the site, in order to beat a deadline. Had the farm not been completed by March 31, it would not have qualified for the old, eyewatering level of renewable energy subsidies which the Government is about to reduce.
But PS Renewables made it in time. The result is that the 189,000 panels, which cover an area equivalent to 85 football pitches, can be expected to generate £2.5 million a year from supplying electricity to the national grid, and a further £2.6 million in subsidy – added directly as ‘green’ levies to every consumer’s energy bill.
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But PS Renewables made it in time. The result is that the 189,000 panels, which cover an area equivalent to 85 football pitches, can be expected to generate £2.5 million a year from supplying electricity to the national grid, and a further £2.6 million in subsidy – added directly as ‘green’ levies to every consumer’s energy bill. At maximum output the panels will produce enough energy to power almost 12,000 homes. Yet Britain’s relative lack of sunshine means they will only produce electricity about 12 per cent of the time.”
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Rose, David. he Daily Mail 26 March 2016.