Green Talk®

Whole Body, Healthy Home, and Sustainable Garden Inspiration

 Get Inspired.  Sign Up for Our Free Newsletter

  • About
    • Press
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
  • New Here?
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Hire Me
  • 5 Reasons to Subscribe!
  • Build Green
  • Gardening
  • Green Business
  • Green Living
  • Green Home
  • Recycling
  • Tech

World’s Largest Community Solar Farm Moves Forward

January 2, 2013 By: Anna3 Comments

Westmill Solar Park Community

Westmill Solar Park Community

Welcome guest poster, Mathias Aarre Maehlum,  with part 2 of his recent community solar garden post:

The idea of community-owned solar farms has been around for quite some time. Homeowners who aren’t eligible for solar panels because they don’t own their own roof or live in an apartment building, still have the chance to invest in community-owned solar.

The world’s largest community solar farm, and UK`s first, has now been launched in Oxford, England. Westmill Solar Cooperative has bought out a 5MW solar farm and intends to make it community-owned.

Just one and a half months after the project was announced, more than 1650 investors signed up, which lead to funds close to £6 million. Phillip Wolfe, Westmill’s executive, stated the following about the new development:

“Solar power will become the world’s greatest energy source in our lifetime; heralding a new era of sustainable and ‘democratic’ energy supply. As the success of Westmill shows, solar energy enables ordinary people to produce clean power, not only on their roof tops, but also at utility scale.”

The 1650 investors will share the profits that are made by selling the clean electricity generated by the solar farm. Estimations suggest an internal rate of return (ERR) of 9 – 11% over the length of the project (24 years).

The new community solar farm is exciting news for those who look to “go solar”, but lack a home suited for ownership. Centralizing solar systems also bring several other interesting benefits to the table including:

  • The solar farm can be placed outside urban areas, limiting the aesthetic concerns of solar power.
  • More effective installation and maintenance of system components.
  • Location can be carefully picked to be free of trees and other obstructions that cause shading issues.

The solar farm produced more than 4,900 MWh of electricity last year – the equivalent to the electricity consumption of about 1,500 UK households. Read more about community solar projects, which solar panel types are the best, and all other things solar at Energy Informative.

Editor’s Note:  Be sure to read Mathias’ solar garden community post for more information about solar community initiatives.

Similar Posts:

  • What Is a Community Solar Garden?
  • NJ Solar Farm: Largest East of the Mississippi. Powers 1500 Homes
  • Solar Power Demand Expected to Grow to 4.3 GW in 2013
  • Gore’s Message to Repower America
  • Solar PPA : The Affordable Solar Answer? Sunlight General Cap Explains

Grow From Seed Mini Course

Grow From Seed Mini Course

About Anna

Anna Hackman is the editor of Green Talk, and owner of The Naked Botanical and a avid (okay obsessed) gardener. She also loves video and podcasting and hosts Green Talk TV and Green Talk Radio. Her most important role is being a mother of four boys.

Chat with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest , and Google+.

Comments

  1. 1

    Lawrence J. Furman says

    January 2, 2013 at 10:56 pm

    I imagine that’s an internal rate of return of 9 to 11% per year for each of the 24 years. This is brilliant.

    Reply
    • 2

      Anna@Green Talk says

      January 3, 2013 at 3:28 am

      Sounds pretty darn good but the only catch is the amount of land needed to house all of those panels. Anna

      Reply
  2. 3

    Drew says

    March 28, 2013 at 5:13 pm

    Thats a lot of panels. Here in the US our company averages about 60 panels per house.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Shop from Anna’s Farm– The Naked Botanical– Farm Fresh Teas, Salts & Body Products

The Naked Botanical " Click HERE

Save Money By Growing Your Plants Indoors.

Three Must Have Equipment "

Grab My Free Mini Course

Connect with Me

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular Posts

  • Organic Color Systems: Wash those Grays Away with a Safer Hair Color
  • Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?
  • Celery Leaves: Cook or Discard them?

RSS Green Talk Radio

  • An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.

Popular Posts

  • Organic Color Systems: Wash those Grays Away with a Safer Hair Color
  • Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?
  • Celery Leaves: Cook or Discard them?
  • Freeze Cucumbers & Learn How to Use Them.
  • Hydrogen Peroxide + Ears = Bye to Colds. A Remedy that Works

RSS Green Talk TV

  • Turmeric indoor sowing time!
  • Short snippet of creating a rose hydrosol
  • Elderberry, more uses than just for health
  • The Naked Botanical's Gift Boxes
  • The Naked Botanical salts

Copyright Green Talk © 2022 · Website Designed by Clever Kiwi