We’re delighted to introduce Rob, a recent renewable energy graduate who has been interning with us at OVESCO on communications and research. Fresh from his studies, Rob jumped at the chance to join our CEO, Chris Rowland, on a site visit to Berwick Solar Farm, an 8.2MW ground-mount array not far from us here in Lewes. Over to him.
Two Deer Here, None Over There: A Visit to Berwick Solar Farm
Hi! My name is Rob, I am a recent renewable energy graduate currently interning at OVESCO in Lewes. Getting stuck in with all things community energy in my local community has been great!
Recently, whilst sat inside working away on spreadsheets and grants on a hot, sunny day, Chris Rowland (CEO of OVESCO CIC) gave me a spontaneous opportunity to visit Berwick Solar Farm with him, an 8.2MW ground-mount site not far from us here in Lewes.
This visit was a great excuse for us to get out into the sun, away from the computer screen and it turned out to be an insightful reminder of why ground-mount solar earns its keep in the countryside, not just on rooftops.
Wildlife on the Ground
As we entered the site, barely off the main road, what struck me first wasn’t the panels at all.
Between the rows of hedges bordering the panels, two deer with brilliant antlers, stood grazing, unbothered by our visit.
We got talking about how the site compared to surrounding fields used for conventional agriculture; the difference was staggering. Under and around the panels, the grass was allowed to naturally grow wild and lots of spots were still green despite the recent weather, clearly providing an attractive environment for the local wildlife. In stark contrast, a field just to the north was devoid of wildlife, covered entirely by stunted wheat and dried-out knapweed.
It’s a point that’s easy to lose in the technical debates about solar: with dry spells and droughts seemingly ever-more common, a well-managed ground-mount solar site can quietly double up as a haven for grazing animals and pollinators, while a monoculture field next door offers a lot less.
Who’s Behind the Site?
The site is being managed by Belectric. It was great to see some of the operational side of a solar farm of this size and a small view of how the whole site is maintained day to day from an outside perspective. As we walked from the entrance past the first few panels we came to an information board, behind this board was a small, private field grown up with wildflowers and in the corner stood a couple of beehives, presumably installed by the site for the benefit of local wildlife.
An Ambition Worth Watching
One of the other topics of conversation of the day, though, was the past plans to connect part of the solar farm to the rail network as part of Riding Sunbeams, world-leading innovators who achieved the world’s first direct connection between a solar array and an electrified railway at Aldershot in 2019. These plans for Berwick unfortunately failed due to planning and ownership reasons.
However, what didn’t fail was how inspiring I found this idea. By skipping the grid, it would cut transmission losses and power trains directly with ‘sunshine’ near the tracks. Digging into this further, I found that for each megawatt of solar, we could achieve meaningful carbon savings, equivalent to thousands of trees!
This visit was really valuable and gave me many imaginative ideas for new ways to save our planet. Using solar to power our trains reminded me of videos and articles I used to read years ago around amazing ways to make pavements and roads out of solar panels to power chargers for cars and buses.
I can’t encourage you enough to go visit sites similar to this and see what ideas spark for you!