With more than half a million solar panels standing 3m off the ground, Cleve Hill Solar Park near Faversham, in Kent, is an imposing site, writes Fiona Irving.

It is the biggest solar park in the country and almost five times bigger than the next largest solar site in operation.

On an overcast November day the developer says Cleve Hill can still at times generate enough electricity to power 20,000 homes.

It has been generating electricity for five months and, at times during the summer, developer Quinbrook says it produced 0.7% of Britain's energy needs.

The UK government plans to more than double the amount of solar energy in the country in the next five years and Cleve Hill is seen as a forerunner to the mega solar farms coming down the line. 

Keith Gains from Quinbrook says solar energy from a 'free resource' will make consumer bills cheaper in time. Image: Fiona Irving.

In 2022 Cleve Hill became the first solar plant to receive planning consent at government level as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIPs).

Since then, 11 NSIPs have been approved by the government.

Even on an overcast November day Quinbrook, the company who built Cleve Hill, says at times the park generates enough electricity to power 20,000 homes.

Energy security

Keith Gains the managing director of Quinbrook, says the UK will need lots more big solar projects to decarbonise electricity generation and provide energy security.

"We're going to need big projects" he says, if the UK is to reach its net zero target.

Big projects, he adds, "enable us to generate electricity at a cheaper rate than a series of smaller projects".

Gains says about 80 solar farms the size of Cleve Hill – 373MW – are needed by 2030 for the government is to reach its solar target.

Three large-scale solar farms are planned on Kent's Romney Marsh.

A 99.9MW solar farm – Stonestreet Green Solar Park near Ashford – was approved by the government recently. 

Wildlife has returned

When Cleve Hill was granted planning permission in 2020 there was strong local opposition.

Kent Wildlife Trust and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) opposed the scheme, arguing the development would threaten wildlife, including marsh harriers.

The park now includes 136 acres of habitat dedicated to bird species.

Golden plover and brent geese have been spotted on the park and water voles have been found living in the channels and ditches on the site.

"The wildlife is here," says Gains. "Some has returned and some has always been here."

Official surveys of the site's wildlife are yet to be carried out. 

Jonny Sampson says at times over the summer the park generated its maximum capacity. Image: Fiona Irving.

One reason the site was chosen was its ability to use the same substation as the London Array wind farm to connect to the national grid.

In the high-tech switchgear control room, senior engineer Jonny Sampson from Fichtner Consulting Engineers held a cross-section of an enormous 2,500 mm2 cable.

"There are three of them in the ground," he says. "It allows us to connect to the national grid and for the energy to be exported throughout Kent and across the country".

Over the summer, the park generated its maximum capacity. Output will naturally fall as winter sets in.

The government's Clean Power 2030 plan hopes the UK will generate 45-46GW of solar energy by 2030.

Cleve Hill coming online in July tipped the current solar capacity in the UK to more than 20GW.

The solar park is a goliath – but it will need to be joined by many other solar giants for the government to reach its goals.

Worrying land loss

Herne Bay and Sandwich MP Sir Roger Gale said he was "very concerned indeed that we're losing far too much of Kent's very fine agricultural land".

The Conservative MP, who has consistently opposed the installation of large solar farms, told the BBC that solar farms "have no requirement" to be on this type of land.

"We have got acres and acres of roof space in public ownership, we've got car parks that could be used for solar farms...we don't need to use fine farmland.

"It's a big, big mistake, and generations after we're going to regret it." 

Author:  Fiona Irving. This article first appeared on BBC.com