The UK’s largest solar farm opened near Newark, in Nottinghamshire, earlier this week. The 4.9Mw project at Hawton spans 30 acres of former quarry land and could provide enough energy for 1,300 homes. Four companies are involved in the project, Octopus Investments, Lightsource, Lark Energy and Conergy.

Developers said planning permission for the 21,600 panels sparked a race against time to beat an August 1 deadline, following the government’s decision to slash the ‘feed-in tariff’ incentives available for large-scale solar developments. There has been speculation that the Hawton site will be one of only a handful completed before this deadline.

Following a full impact assessment, farmer Roger Pykett has used a combination of hedgerows and British-native trees such as hawthorn, oak and cherry to screen the 1.75m-tall panels. The boundaries are already in Higher Level Stewardship and the site will be seeded with bird’s-foot trefoil, black knapweed, red clover, meadow buttercup, ox-eye daisy, lady’s bedstraw cowslip and field grasses. It is hoped that sheep will graze the land around the panels. Other features among a raft of environmental measures include bat boxes and bee-keeping.

Mr Pykett explained his decision to switch to renewanble energy production, “This land was of poor quality and of little agricultural value, having been once part of an 80ft deep quarry. The soil itself is Keuper Marle soil and was poorly reclaimed. The villagers were initially concerned about having a solar farm on their doorstep but Lark Energy consulted carefully to address concerns and has made every effort to ensure the site is well screened and has created a development the whole community can be proud of."

He said, “The solar farm has helped me diversify and will provides a stable income. It will strengthen my farm business, helping me to secure it for the next generation.”