UK-based solar farm operator Primrose Solar is teaming up with solar company Solarcentury to build a 48 MWp solar farm on the Southwick Estate in Fareham, Portsmouth. The farm will produce enough clean electricity to power 11,000 homes, but that’s not the whole of the good news story. The companies are taking a holistic approach to the project with the aim of making it the greenest ground-mounted solar farm in the world. They plan to achieve this by incorporating such environmentally friendly features as a full ecological site survey and using solar and biodiesel generators during construction.
“Our responsible approach to building solar farms, together with Primrose Solar’s continued investment over the lifetime of the project, is really going to make Southwick solar farm an environmentally robust site,” said Solarcentury CEO Frans van den Heuvel. “Our waste and energy management programme will see a number of new initiatives employed during the build that we’re looking to roll out across all of our future sites.”
Other sustainable initiatives include a wildlife and habitat management plan; planting of wildflowers to help revive pollinator species such as bees and butterflies; using the land for food production by grazing sheep in autumn and winter; recycling across the entire site, including canteen waste; installation of permanent composting toilet facilities; a car sharing scheme; hot and cold food facilities on-site to prevent lunchtime vehicle traffic off-site during construction; and CCTV cameras powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
When construction is finished and the solar farm starts harvesting renewable energy from the sun, Primrose plans to work with local schools on education programs to teach “children how solar farms work, why renewable energy is important and the opportunity they give for biodiversity improvements.”
Source: http://inhabitat.com/uk-building-worlds-most-environmentally-friendly-solar-farm/
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