[richardtheboffin]

Anyone tried building their own solar farm? Is it possible to cut out the middle men? Does red-tape make it impossible for an individual land owner to do this?
I have just under 5 acres. Last time I looked at renting to a solar farming company, they weren't interested in anything under 10 acres.
We're in prime solar country, Dorset. Surrounded by solar farms!

[richardtheboffin]

Further to my question, after a quick google, it appears that renting to a solar developer gets you about £800-£1000 per acre per year.
5 acres is enough for 1MW of panels (at a cost of probably half a million quid), so assuming you got on average 3 hours a day full power (big assumption) and you can get 5p a unit, about £55k a year in generated electricity. So 10 years to get to break even.
If I am reading the charts right, Dorset gets 3kwh per kw of panels a day, on average.
I have no idea what grants are available or what tariffs bigger generators get.

[Penninehillbilly]

I had a look at this a few weeks ago, you could join with a neighbouring farmer to get to the required acreage for renting?

[juliem]

Wouldn't planning permission be the stumbling block.Solar farms round here in Shropshire tend to be 50 acres at least.Access to power grid and flat land usually desireable.Planning could take 2 years....if you could get it.You'd need a consultant and could be expensive. You'd also upset your neighbours.