What is a solar farm? +

Solar farms are the large-scale use of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to create electricity that is green and clean. The solar farm at Wickham Hall will be made up of solar panels supported on steel posts alongside inverters, transformers and facilities for storage of generated electricity in batteries.

Who is Endurance Energy? +

Endurance Energy is a subsidiary company of Endurance Estates. We are a Cambridgeshire based property company who work on a number of residential, commercial and renewable energy projects across the region.

Why do we need solar farms? +

The UK has committed to reduce the emissions associated with traditional forms of energy generation . Solar power is one of a mix of technologies which will allow the country to move away from fossil-fuelled energy generation towards a cleaner and more sustainable future. Solar power will make a vital contribution to the target for the UK to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Why are you planning the solar farm here? +

We have undertaken rigorous assessments to ensure that the site is suitable for solar farm development. The site is just 1 kilometre away from the Bishop’s Stortford sub-station, which has the connection capacity available to receive additional supplies of electricity. Such close proximity between a sub-station in a built-up area and a viable site for solar power generation is rarely available.

Is this site suitable? +

Yes. The solar farm is driven by a landscape led design which will take into account existing field boundaries and natural features, retaining and protecting existing hedgerows and woodland. Much of the land on the site slopes slightly towards the south, which is ideal for a solar farm.

What about the loss of agricultural land? +

Due to the construction of the Little Hadham A120 bypass, a number of the fields have been turned into irregular shapes, making them less viable for arable agriculture.

Whilst the solar farm is operational, the soil will be rested. We are simply borrowing the land for 40 years and increasing the level of biodiversity on the site before it can be returned to agricultural use in the future.

If a solar farm is given planning permission, is it classified as a brownfield site where new houses can be built? +

No. The planning permission would clearly state that the site is for a solar farm with a lifetime of 40 years. There will also be a planning condition which ensures that it must be reinstated to its current state before it is returned to agricultural use.

Will I be able to see it? +

We have undertaken detailed landscape and visual impact assessments to understand the visibility of the scheme from the surrounding area. We will be retaining existing hedgerows and planting new green borders. As you can see from the images below, as the new hedgerows and borders mature, the solar panels will be screened from view.

*An example of how solar farms can be hidden by hedgerows*

How long will the solar farm be there for? +

The solar farm will be in operation for 40 years. Once the facility’s lifetime comes to an end, the land will be returned to agricultural use.

How big are the solar panels? +

The panels are no more than 3 metres in height with no foundations. The frames are simply driven 1.5 metres into the ground.

Will there be a loss in the biodiversity on the site? +

No, there will be an increase of over 216.46% in biodiversity on the site, as measured using Government-approved methods.

What about the wildlife on the site? +

A range of animal species including bats, great crested newts, badgers, deer, and farmland birds make use of the surrounding landscape, which will be enhanced by the extensive habitat creation and positive ecological management delivered by the proposals. Ponds within the site and adjacent Bloodhound’s Wood will be managed, in line with specialist advice, to increase their suitability for great crested newts, which will also benefit a range of invertebrate and bird life.

Will the bats be affected? +

The solar farm is surrounded by mature woodlands, which are known to support locally important bat roosts. The presence of these protected species has underpinned the proposals, and great care has been taken to ensure bats can continue to thrive alongside the solar arrays. Habitat connectivity for bats will be enhanced through a combination of new native hedgerow and woodland planting.

Has the project got planning permission? +

You may recall that due to the proposals crossing the authority boundary, the original plans for a solar farm at Wickham Hall were made up of two planning applications: one to East Herts District Council and the other to Uttlesford District Council.

The East Herts application for a new 35MW solar farm, 10,000 new trees (including a woodland) and over 2km of new hedgerow was approved in January 2023.

Unfortunately, the Uttlesford application was refused in April 2022. A new planning application is currently being prepared and will be submitted shortly. The Government issued Uttlesford District Council with a Section 62A notice, meaning that planning applications can now be submitted directly to the Secretary of State. Endurance Energy will submit their application directly to the Secretary of State.

Will the project lead to an increase in traffic? +

There will be some additional traffic to the site as the solar farm is being constructed. This traffic will be managed through a Construction and Environment Management Plan, agreed with Uttlesford District Council and East Herts District Council.

Once built, the solar farm won’t require significant maintenance, so it is likely there will be a reduction in traffic movements during the scheme’s lifetime.

Will there be reflection/glare off the panels? +

A landscape and visual impact assessment has been carried out and submitted as part of the planning application. This assesses the impact of the panels on the surrounding area.

The PV panels are made of non-reflective material, either polycrystalline or monocrystalline cells designed to absorb – not reflect - daylight and convert it to electricity.

New planting around the perimeter of all field parcels with solar panels will help to enclose the site visually and separate panels from the adjacent landscape. Existing hedgerows will be retained.

Is there a risk of flooding on site? +

The site is in an area of low flood risk. Solar panels sit on top of the soil and have only very limited groundworks which means the site will not increase the risk of flooding. A Flood Risk Assessment has been submitted as part of the planning application.

Will the site be fenced? +

A 2m-high deer fence will be in place around the solar panels. This fence is made from wooden posts and wire mesh, having minimal impact on distant views. This type of fence is in keeping with a rural/agricultural setting.

What happens after the 40-year lifespan? +

The temporary planning permission would clearly state that the site is for a solar farm with a lifetime of 40 years. There will also be a planning condition which ensures that it must be reinstated to its current state before it is returned to agricultural use.

The lease between the landowner and the owner of the solar farm will detail how funds will be managed during the course of the solar farm’s lifetime to ensure that there is sufficient to dismantle the project and return the land to agricultural condition at the end of the project’s life.

What happens to the solar panels after 40 years? +

Once a solar farm has reached the end of its term the nearly all the materials can easily be repurposed or recycled. The panels are constructed almost entirely from aluminium, glass and silicon. At the end of the project they can either be re-used elsewhere or dismantled into components for recycling.

Detailed studies have shown that after solar farms are decommissioned (assuming the panels will not be re-sited elsewhere), the panels are divided up into parts based on material, and almost all of the glass and metal parts can then be re-used, with 95% of glass and 100% of metal respectively being reused. In addition, around 80% of the solar cell modules can be reused.

The silicon wafers are etched away and smelted into reusable slabs, and with around 85% of this silicon repurposed for new solar panels.

Will there be any noise created by the solar farm? +

Any noise generated at the solar farm is not from the panels but the electricity being converted from Direct Current to Alternating Current for export to the grid, within modules called inverters. Noise levels could be 60-65 decibels at 10m away from an inverter, but the noise level will decrease with distance from the inverters. The noise is generated by the fans which cool the units down on hot days. These are located within the site as opposed to being next to footpaths so little to no noise will be heard outside the site boundary.

Rather than solar farms on fields, why can’t solar panels be installed on building rooftops and brownfield land instead? +

The UK’s transition to net zero carbon requires a major shift in energy generation away from fossil fuels. To achieve this, the UK requires significant growth in zero carbon energy generation from multiple types of technology and across a range of locations. The use of a small proportion of the UK’s land area for solar, alongside rooftop and brownfield development, is required to deliver the step-change in energy generation needed.