Wedoany.com Report-Mar 11, A new report from Solar Energy UK has shown that British farmers are successfully diversifying their land use by installing solar PV on their land to boost their income.
The report shows that 37% of farmers believe that additional revenue from solar will secure their farm for future generations.
The ‘Farming Sustainability Report’ collected 271 responses from farmers, landowners and tenant farmers from across the UK to explore their views on solar energy. Owing to geopolitical tensions, inflation and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, 31% of respondents said that their production was below average or very low last year, with a further 44% having below average or very low incomes.
However, 37% of respondents said that they were using additional revenue from solar energy to secure their farms for future generations. While around 60% of those surveyed did not currently have any renewable energy installations on their farmland, 30% of those without solar installations stated that adding solar panels to their farm would enable them to feel an increased level of financial stability and security.
Barriers and misconceptions
For those interested in installing solar, significant barriers exist; 34% of residents cited grid connection issues as the biggest barrier to adopting renewable energy solutions on their farmland, while 20% noted planning constraints posed a major barrier to their solar ambitions.
Diversifying land use by installing solar PV can provide a significant revenue stream for farmers, notes Solar Energy UK. The report cites statistics from the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) that show that a typical farm growing cereal crops could expect to produce £100 of profit per acre of land, while a long-term lease for a solar installation could provide guaranteed payments to the landowner in the region of £1,000 per acre per year over several decades.
To this end, farmers who have chosen to install solar PV on their land have reported significant levels of satisfaction with their decision. One 500-acre farmer said: “I am confident in the future now that I have the added income of the solar farm. I feel the future is bright. We have 100 acres of solar already. Without it, I wouldn’t be confident.”
However, the report highlights that there are still some significant misconceptions among farmers who have not installed solar on their land, with many raising concerns about food security, costs and the reliability of solar installations. However, Solar Energy UK notes that climate change is, in fact, the biggest threat to UK food security, and that achieving the UK government’s target of 70GW of installed solar by 2035 would take up less than 1% of UK farmland.
In the foreword to the report, Solar Energy UK chief executive Chris Hewett said: “We believe farmers’ perspectives have been largely missing from the recent national debate on farm renewables.”
“The report finds that, for many who have been able to diversify, solar is helping to keep their farms viable. They have more reliable revenue streams keeping their farms profitable whilst securing domestic food supplies. Suffice to say, energy security and food security are not conflicting missions. To echo the energy secretary, Ed Miliband’s recent pledge, we must ‘proceed not on the basis of myth and false information, but on evidence,’ when it comes to solar,” Hewett continued.
