Representation by James Walker
- Date submitted
- 2 March 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The installation of such extensive PV Panels on prime farm land renders the land contaminated for any future development, removes the land from food production for ever and eventually blights the local area. There are thousands of industrial units around the country, close to existing HV infrastructure with roofs that could carry thousands and thousands of solar panels and the power would be where it is needed – no need to take highly productive farm land for this purpose and cause major disruption to local communities. PV cells are inefficient and deteriorate at an alarming rate, later in the engineered life span. Despite common views given by operators they are not low maintenance. Solar panels require cleaning at least once a year. Nothing is 100% efficient at any point in its life cycle and all electrical devices deteriorate as they age. If these PV cells were 95% efficient on installation that would be exceptional; after five years many would need replacing and the rest might achieve 65-70% of their rated output at best. It is a well known engineering issue within the energy saving industry, that if the capital outlay hasn’t been recovered within five years then the project isn’t viable. The grassed area below the panels has to be maintained – sheep cannot be grazed in these areas due to the high levels of static electricity which sheep are extremely prone to.