Newbridge could be home to a solar panel park after councillors granted permission for it to be built on a farm.
Caerphilly Councty Borough Council’s planning committee gave full planning permission for 240 solar panels to be installed on a field at Twyn-Gwyn Farm together with a green coloured control building.
The solar panels, if built, would be grouped in banks of 24 and attached to poles with an overall height above ground level of three metres.
Nearby residents were written to and the council received two letters back with concerns over the loss of wildlife habitats, the devaluation of property and setting a precedent for similar developments on other fields.
A report by officers said the visual impact would be minimal as the panels would be 150m from farm buildings and at least 200m from other isolated properties in the area but would be most visible from two houses 350m away.
The original application was originally for 2,232 panels to be installed across all fields at the farm but was scaled-back to just the top field.
Very interesting development but how much energy are these panels expected to produce? No figures were given in the article, which is disappointing.
Condideration needs to be given to a multitude of new energy sources, solar being one of them. I doubt that wildlife would be adversely affected but if the height above ground, given in the article, is correct developments on a larger scale will certainly alter the appearance of the countryside.
A bit more information would be useful, so that people can make informed decisions on whether or not this energy source is a viable one for this area.
Richard Williams is correct in questioning the energy produced by Solar Panels.
The energy required to manufacture the panels, to ship them to location, to install (men in white vans using fuel), maintain to eventually dismantle and dispose of (more men in white vans….)actually outweighs the energy produced at this latitude.
Further development is still required to transform this great idea into a proper viable project.
Richard Williams is correct in questioning the energy produced by Solar Panels.
The energy required to manufacture the panels, to ship them to location, to install (men in white vans using fuel), maintain, to eventually dismantle and dispose of (more men in white vans….)actually outweighs the energy produced at this latitude.
Further development is still required to transform this great idea into a proper viable project.
@Richard Williams You are correct in saying that this information should have been in the article.
The planning application report (11/0134/FULL) states: "Solar modules are typically 0.5 to 1 sq m with a peak electrical output of 70 to 160 watts."
This means that a park of 240 could generate between 16.8kw and 38.4kw.
Many thanks
Richard Gurner
Editor
@clive elsbury i beleve that you info regarding energy required to have soler panls vs the over all energy out put is out of date with some of the newer soler panel tecknologica develipments i whould strongly advise you recheck you figers on them and inshour you use up to date sorces of info