A community energy project is transforming an old gravel pit site into a solar farm to power nearly 600 local homes.
The West Solent Solar Co-operative (WSSC) has raised the investment for the £2.6million scheme from about 500 people from the local area and around the UK.
The 2.4MW renewables scheme, which covers 12.6 acres with 9,372 panels, is being constructed by solar company Solarcentury on the brownfield site in Hampshire.
Once building work is complete on the field, which has been restored from a gravel pit, the site will be sown with wildflowers and beehives will be established to create habitat for wildlife, the company said.
In the autumn, sheep will be brought in to graze the grass between the panels.
Solar farms have raised controversy because of concerns on their impact on the countryside and the subsidies they receive, with the Government proposing to end payments to new large-scale standalone developments two years earlier than planned.
But a recent poll by the Department of Energy and Climate Change revealed solar was the most popular renewable energy source in the UK, with 85% backing solar developments.
“We are extremely pleased to be bringing the benefits of clean solar electricity to an organisation that is making community-owned and managed renewable energy production a reality, said Frans van den Heuvel, chief executive at Solarcentury.
“Investing in the West Solent Solar Co-operative is a vote for solar, already the most popular form of renewable energy in the UK, and it’s also a vote for an independent, sustainable energy future in the UK, moving us away from expensive imported fossil fuel.”
He said Solarcentury backed the wildlife measures in the scheme and said the co-operative should be a blueprint for other communities around the UK looking to invest in solar.
“We are certain this will be a solar project that the local community can feel proud of,” said WSSC chairman Anthony Woolhouse.
The solar farm, which will start feeding electricity to the grid next week, will be used to power nearly 600 homes in the Pennington and Lymington area.
