Solar Farms – BPS Ineligible

DEFRA Secretary, Liz Truss, has announced that land used for generating solar energy will not be eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme.  This includes the land between and underneath the panels, even ifit is being grazed.  It also means the land will not be eligible to site Ecological Focus Area features on.

Apparently the change is set to save taxpayers £2 million.  However the move has been critisised by the Solar Trade Association (STA) who say solar fixings cover just 5% of the land with the remaining suitable for agricultural production (e.g. sheep, chickens or geese). This comes following the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC’s) announcement that renewable energy subsidies for new large scale solar farms will end next April and the Department for Communities and Local Governments amended planning rules to ensure that where possible solar installations should not be sited in fields that could be used for farming.