Obtaining planning permission for new solar projects in the UK can be a long process, made even more difficult by several rounds of consultation.
Ahead of Britain’s general election, the Green Party’s manifesto sets an ambition to reach 100 GW of solar power by 2035. Labour’s manifesto promises to triple solar energy. The Liberal Democrats do not mention any figures, but want to have 90% electricity from wind and solar energy by 2030.
While some of this can be met with rooftop solar, and while the manifestos promise to equip all new homes with solar panels and other low-carbon technologies, capacity must be generated from large-scale solar if Britain is to achieve the necessary energy supply . generation to move away from dependence on oil, gas or other imported energy.
However, public opinion can be fickle when it comes to British solar farms. Protest groups are increasingly calling on municipalities and the government to refuse or revoke building permits for large-scale solar energy projects.
The British Conservative Party’s manifesto promises to invest in food security and protect the best agricultural land from solar farms. The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) has highlighted that climate change is the biggest threat to UK food security.
The (solar) agriculture issue
Solar energy and battery storage development cannot be built on land classified as the ‘best and most versatile’ (BMV) agricultural land. A recent ministerial statement reaffirms that solar farms are only permitted on land of class 3b or lower. According to Solar Energy UK, this was confirmation that existing land use policies would continue to provide stability as the sector expands.
Energy Security Minister Claire Coutinho said: “We will ensure we achieve our solar energy targets in a sensible way that delivers clean, cheaper energy but does not jeopardize our food security.”
It is important to put into context the amount of land actually needed to meet solar energy demand. According to Solar Energy UK, each megawatt of power for existing projects requires approximately six hectares of land. With around 9.6 GW of UK solar capacity coming from ground-mounted panels, current ground-mounted solar covers an estimated 230 square kilometers.
Data from the Carbon Brief, published in August 2022, shows that existing solar farms currently use less land in Britain than golf courses and airports, covering 1,256km2 and 493 km2respectively.
Mark Moore, project development and sales director for Iqony SENS, spoke Solar energy portal about the objections developers often face when advising on new solar energy projects and how developers can ensure they best meet public needs.
He said: “The industry is quite reactive. We are not insensitive to what is happening in the environment, nor are we insensitive to the local population.”
SENS UK has entered into an affinity agreement with the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) to ensure that only a marginal amount of productive agricultural land is used for solar installations. The organizations will work together to identify locations where viable PV and battery sites can be developed.
Under the deal, Iqony SENS will own and operate the sites – which will occupy land where only a limited number of crops could have been grown – and landowners will receive an indexed, competitive market rent for the land for a period of up to 40 years.
Visual impact and community perception
One issue that consistently comes up in public consultations from solar developers is the visual impact a solar farm will have. Moore said: “It’s always visual, but sometimes it’s not something she can see.”
He explained that local residents are often concerned about the visibility of a project from the main roads passing near their area; misconceptions and negative connotations ensure that visible solar developments will create a negative image of an area.
An important consideration in the planning process is how and where the buildings and greenery around them should be located. British Solar Renewables has been awarded planning permission for three separate projects this year. Two of these were the developer’s second submissions, initially rejected and resubmitted with greater attention to biodiversity.
Lightsource bp recently held a community information event to share proposals for a 57MW solar and 54MW joint energy storage facility in the Republic of Ireland. The proposed fields were chosen in part due to the existing local topography, which will shield the site and limit surrounding views of the solar farm.
It is common for a developer to change their plans if the local population wishes. A study by Solar Energy UK shows that public acceptance of solar farms is often greater among people who already live close to them; the actual impact of these developments is rarely as great as expected.
The report states that uncertainty about development naturally leads to doubts, and that developers must act responsibly to bring the local community along. During the development of a solar project, solar support drops to 17% for people living near solar projects, but increases to 61.5% once the sites are operational.
False links to heritage – such as a movement to protect ‘Tolkien’s landscape’, so named because his aunt lived near a planned Roundhill Solar Farm in Worcestershire – are also often cited in the anti-solar case. Rather than reflecting the British public’s preoccupation with the nature of literature, this indicates the level of unease that a project in development can cause.
The reality is that available connections and environmental conditions must also play a role in decision-making. “We don’t want to impact a bona fide landscape that has real scientific or cultural value,” Moore says.
He also highlighted SENS’s practice of setting up an independent bond to pay for the restoration of the site to its original state when a solar farm is decommissioned.
Biodiversity improves with the development of the sun
In February 2024, the biodiversity net gain requirement set out in the Environment Act 2021 came into effect.
There is a common belief that solar farms damage biodiversity, but numerous studies have shown the opposite to be true: Moore said an ongoing study into a SENS development in Warwickshire has shown a net biodiversity gain of 192% for the site.
In 2021, field data collected by Lancaster University at 15 locations showed that pollinators were thriving around solar farms, especially those where developers had taken extra care to plant under and around solar panels.
Developers can ensure that development proposals are designed in such a way that most of the open grassland on a site is suitable for grazing small livestock. The relative amount of a solar farm occupied by the panels themselves is small, which allows livestock to graze on solar development sites, a practice known as agrivoltaics.
The solar energy market is an active barrier against solar developers who industrialize parts of the countryside in the name of corporate greed. Given the amount needed to fit the grid and the amount in the queue, it is likely that negative energy prices will be needed at some point to control the level of investment in the industry .
Public acceptance of solar developments can be improved if developers are assured that a new agricultural business will have a positive impact on local employment, if at all. Furthermore, sourcing materials from Britain or at least Europe is one way development companies can build public trust.