Lewis | September 14, 2015 | 1 Comments
Even in my fledgling experience, solar panels polarise. There are always two sides of the coin: on one side, you have those who believe they are a step in the right direction for the environment and in attempts to solve the world’s energy crisis. On the other, you have those, despite the fact they may believe their purpose is important, who believe the increase of the installation of solar panels in fields is a blight on the green landscape of the United Kingdom. As an environmentalist, yet a lover of our green and pleasant land, I can see and understand the opinions both sides carry. Of course, there are groups who take different standpoints, but the two outlined above are the ones you may hear debated by friends and family up and down the country on a daily basis.
A development last year is the inspiration for this blog post, which you can read here from an article written by an Emily Gosden for The Telegraph. In the September of 2014, the news broke of the installation of Britain’s first floating solar panels on a reservoir in Berkshire. They have almost become a feature on the rooftops of houses and buildings in the country, in an effort to move away from other non-renewable methods of energy production. However, the idea of solar panels floating atop a body of water is a first.
It seems like a great idea; instead of solar farms being installed on agricultural, green land, they are being installed on an area where construction or production of buildings or crops is impossible. It seems it could satisfy the needs of both parties; the idea of floating solar panels solves the nagging problem of the usage of agricultural land, all the while reaping the benefits of renewable energy. So, those who advocate solar panels would be happy their use is continuing and those who believe they are blemish on the landscape will be safe in the knowledge that they won’t be sitting on green land, meaning agricultural production can continue and they won’t spoil any views into the horizon.
But is it as simple as that? Many, many people have an opinion on this, and rightly so. However Mark Bennett, the owner of the farm near Wargrave where the floating panels have been installed, has said that these panels are even better than the farms you see scattered across the country, as no land needn’t be sacrificed, meaning earnings can be still made on this land.
What’s you opinion? We would love to know; please leave a comment in the section below. It is always good to find out the different viewpoints people take, especially surrounding issues such as renewable energy source. I think we’ve all heard plenty debate about wind farms!
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