20,000 solar panels planned for South Marston (From Swindon Advertiser)
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20,000 solar panels planned for South Marston
7:00am Thursday 17th February 2011 in News By Emma Dunn
ONE of the men behind a new multi-million pound renewable energy plan on the outskirts of town has played down the impact it will have on local people.
Plans for a five megawatt capacity solar farm with more than 20,000 panels in a field to the north of South Marston were unveiled at a consultancy session yesterday.
The scheme proposes to build on a 30-acre plot just 600 metres away from another solar farm proposal at Roves Farm which is from the same company, AEE Renewables.
It is also a near the site of a controversial proposal for wind turbines at Honda, which are still being considered by Swindon Council.
George Paton, a partner at Webbpaton who act for the landowner of the field, said: “This is not like the Honda windturbines. These things are only 2.45m tall at the highest point.
“You won’t be able to see them because the hedge will hide them completely.
“They won’t be 85 metres up in the air.
“If you look at it from far away it just looks like dark glass.”
The 21,720 panels will have a 30 degree tilt and will be 6.1m apart with sheep grazing on the grass around them. Mr Paton said that the plans will help meet the Government target of having 20 per cent of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The solar panels will generate enough energy to power 790 average properties in a year and the developers hope it will be in place by the end of the year.
Scott Ferguson of AEE Renewables, the project coordinator, said: “There are only certain places you can put solar panels because of where the connections are to the national grid.
“The field is also completely flat and has low visibility. There are high hedges all the way around so you can’t see into the field – it won’t blight the landscape.”
AEE Renewables is behind 75 solar farm projects across the country which are all at different planning stages. Residents were invited yesterday to discuss the plans with the developers and raise any concerns.
Mr Ferguson said the proposals will be submitted to Swindon Council in March. If permission is given, it will take six weeks to install the panels, which will be motionless and silent.
Comments(25)
politicrat
says...
8:55am Thu 17 Feb 11
Ian13
says...
8:58am Thu 17 Feb 11
politicrat wrote:Or both as they are not visiable away from the sites, unlike wind turbines that are a blot on the landscape and only work to about a third capacity.
Would it not have made more sense installing solar panels on the huge B&Q and honda Buildins instead of using greenfields?
itsamess
says...
12:03pm Thu 17 Feb 11
Robfm
says...
12:19pm Thu 17 Feb 11
I'll give you a clue Walter, why was the public consultation held in South Marston village hall.
itsamess
says...
12:43pm Thu 17 Feb 11
My understanding is that many new ideas were considered for the B+Q building and were rejected which would have caused delays to pursue.
Recent results from buildings built from a variety of new technology and materials have been proved to have increased power available and quantified storage capabilities. It seems to make the panels to be used outdated-but as yet not available in the UK.
Popular misconceptions as to wind turbines will always exist despite once again a new generation of turbines that combine with secondary technology to stabilise output-halve the size and reduce the costs from use of free green energy and advanced materials to extend the life as the life span of wind turbines currently used which are not generally regarded as economical. Any stated capacities are rarely achieved or sustained. New technology is changing that quite rapidly.
Old Town
says...
12:53pm Thu 17 Feb 11
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You either seem to be waged in a personal vendetta against a barman from South Marsden - or you are writing chapter and verse about many many different articles where you seem to think you are an oracle on each of them...
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Without trying to sound disrespectful you cannot possibly be an expert on everything !?!?!
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Back to the article - it seems that this will have no impact at all to any local residents in any detrimental way, so surely it is a good thing...
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I did hear an article on the radio a couple of days ago where it was suggested the government is giving BIG handouts to people setting up these type of solar farms - it was suggested that the money was really set aside for small homeowners to set up solar, but had been "hijacked" by companies and individuals with large amounts of land.
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They purchase the solar panels (and wind turbines were included) for their face value, but are then given HUGE cash payouts by the government which mean the solar panels end up costing very little.
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The upshot being the owner of the solar panels can make a LOT of money by selling the electricity generated back to the grid, while we the taxpayer are paying for the solar farms to be set up in order to do this ?
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I am not suggesting I know a lot about this - merely commenting on a rather one sided article on BBC Radio a couple of days ago.....
Robfm
says...
1:42pm Thu 17 Feb 11
What villages like mine need to wake up to is rather than object let's make it work for us. I turbine or one solar panel field could make the village 10's of thousands of pounds to do the things we are always being told the Parish can't afford.
itsamess
says...
4:26pm Thu 17 Feb 11
Agreed--and i certainly would not claim to be an expert on everything. However in my field i most certainly am.
Vendetta is not an appropriate term-but yes you are always free to express an opinion. My view is very simple as from leaving school and throughout i have trained and educated as a scientist in the nuclear field in other words a lifetime so far of experience. The main protagonist here has for some considerable time claimed experience in a wide range of industries to back up his claims.when challenged on specific items--in other words if someone else has done something--so has he--perhaps you noticed. Many others have and equally have raised the issue. On local issues i can simply express an opinion--but i have been here all my life.
Given the persons age--easily accessible by anyone if they have a name we can work out school leaving age and so on.Adding other information given by him he very simply does not have the years behind him to achieve any relevant qualifications. So stupid really as other claims counteracted the previous claims--and so it goes on.
No i am not offended by your comments.
As you will have read my previous post
here i set out new advances in technology which improve energy supplies in this country as some energy sources are drying up which we rely on and its part of my job to study and research each and every form of energy. I was due to join the UN team to inpect a nuclear plant in the middle east this week but because of the situation that is cancelled.
The final point is on the post shortly after he was explaining how the EU funds these projects--you will have noted he is a UKIP member and all against the EU--until it is of benefit to him.
Dont worry i have the situation under control and every insult and nonsensical post he makes brings his demise a little closer as he is simply adding fuel to the fire. Enjoy your day.
doug on the farm
says...
6:44pm Thu 17 Feb 11
Robfm
says...
7:49pm Thu 17 Feb 11
There goes another cuckoo. Interestingly I was just told another cuckoo was defeated at the Parish Council meeting when it came to the village green being protected from development.
itsamess
says...
8:35pm Thu 17 Feb 11
How Soon Is Now
says...
9:48pm Thu 17 Feb 11
Robbo: "What villages like mine need to wake up to is rather than object let's make it work"
I can only imagine what a complete pillock the natives of South Marston actually think of an outsider like you actually is.
SAM2WIN
says...
9:50pm Thu 17 Feb 11
Robfm
says...
9:14am Fri 18 Feb 11
Just think if it happens we could get Hello or OK to take photographs of the legal event of the season. I would of course donate my money to charity, I guess yours would go to the Walter Mitty fund for deluded fantasy Nuclear Scientists.
Oh look there goes a whole flight of cuckoos.
Disco20
says...
10:09am Fri 18 Feb 11
The rest up us cant take it anymore.
If you call up the tevel in and book a week in advance, its only £29. Bargain!
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PS, renewable energy is always a good idea!
Disco20
says...
10:10am Fri 18 Feb 11
The rest up us cant take it anymore.
If you call up the tevel in and book a week in advance, its only £29. Bargain!
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PS, renewable energy is always a good idea!
Robfm
says...
11:47am Fri 18 Feb 11
All I can say in my own defence if certain posters leave me alone and post on topic I will have no need to defend myself.
Thank you for your indulgence.
Hmmmf
says...
11:56am Fri 18 Feb 11
Robfm wrote:"The grid" does not pay up to 43p/kWh, everyone who pays an electricity bill pays it. In other words, *we* pay it through increased electricity bills. Neither the Government nor the EU subsidise these sites. We the taxpayer subsidise the things whether we want them or not. Robfm needs to realise we can all see the conflict of interest he has, he wants to get in on the scam and make money out of the taxpayer by erecting his own windmill. It's got nothing to do with altruism. And btw there's no such thing as 'free green energy' and no such thing as 'green energy' either. All energy winds up as heat, which we are constantly being told is a bad thing.
OT you are right the EU via the monies they give us back subsidise these sites, and the grid pays up to 43p/kwh. What villages like mine need to wake up to is rather than object let's make it work for us. I turbine or one solar panel field could make the village 10's of thousands of pounds to do the things we are always being told the Parish can't afford.
Robfm
says...
1:22pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Yes you are right that domestic bills are 8% higher because of the tariff payments made to those building these Solar Farms and Wind Farms.
The reality is that the EU/HMG are pushing ahead with these projects, whether this is right or fair is another matter. The more villages that embraced this as a village then it follows that those villagers would benefit.
Fintry, Scotland are on target to make £5 million pounds for the village for a population of 600 with just one turbine. That's over £8000/person.
They made this decision in 2008 and last year supported an expansion of the farm which will bring in another £6 million for the surrounding area.
http://tinyurl.com/5
wv69zj
So we can argue the semantics of who subsidises or we can look at the reality that if these Turbines and Solar Farms are to be expanded as a leaked EU document suggests then no village should get left behind.
http://tinyurl.com/6
6rlrdk
How Soon Is Now
says...
8:55pm Fri 18 Feb 11
doug on the farm wrote:How much did the panels cost?
Well I put some photo-voltaic panals on my roof last year to complement the solar panals for domestic hot water and I'm in quids all round. What I dont use I sell back to the National Grid. I'll never have to py another electricity bill again!
itsamess
says...
10:18pm Fri 18 Feb 11
Hmmmf
I think you will find the panels being fitted are already outdated and very much overpriced. Quite surprising really as where they are made are fitting the new style which are half the size with dual capacity. You will also find the figures of payback depend on many factors--nothing is as it seems.
Robfm
says...
8:59am Sat 19 Feb 11
I think Doug by the way is quite a clever chappie and would have got the best deal available at the time. How many people bought plasma tv when they cost thousands, technology doesn't stand still. So Walter your comments are hardly a scientifically based revelation.
Robfm
says...
9:30am Sat 19 Feb 11
om/watch?v=k_tz_frPl
dE&feature=player_em
bedded
Nice video
itsamess
says...
2:23pm Sat 19 Feb 11
risk factors--if any. Surprisingly i even know how energy can be stored in them too.
Doug--ah yes--you mean the friend of a contractor to the council--yes remember that well. Again that technology has moved on.
Plasma TV--wow must have missed that--does that mean my black and white set is outdated?
Counsel-yep advice taken-not my case now--taken out of my hands.
Robfm says...
7:39am Thu 17 Feb 11