A SOLAR farm in East Anglia has created enough energy to power 900 homes, despite not having officially opened.
According to The Peterborough Business, the 3.4MW farm in Whittlesey with 14,000 solar PV panels, is the first major solar farm in Peterborough.
It was designed and built by Lark Energy who have built similar projects in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.
Lark Energy managing director Jonathan Selwyn said: “I am delighted that the solar farm in Whittlesey is now generating clean, renewable, electricity. Our installation team worked tirelessly to complete the project, particularly in the face of very difficult ground conditions following weeks of heavy rain.
“This solar farm provides a great example of how companies can work together to develop, finance and construct a major renewable energy project in a very short space of time. We are convinced that the future for solar in the UK remains bright and we look forward to developing further projects of this type.”
The company plans to have the farm’s official opening later this year, as well as planning further projects in Suffolk and Leicestershire.
A spokesperson from energy efficiency specialists, The Eco Experts said: “Solar farms are a great way for farmers or land owners to generate income from their land. Often a dual-usage system can be rolled out, whereby the land can still be used for chickens or small livestock to graze, as well as hosting the PV panels.
“Currently the return-on-investment on solar is higher than the average high street bank, so investing in solar farms is a good way to look after your hard earned cash.
“Of course the main reason we should look to solar farms, is that as the future of fossil fuels looks shaky, we need to be looking at ways we can create clean renewable energy.”
Solar PV panels work by harnessing the light energy from the sun’s rays which is converted to electricity.
A solar farm can create a huge amount of energy by mounting a large number of PV panels on a metal rack and exporting the electricity created to the grid.
