Change is coming – and it’s been coming for some time. The solar industry in Ireland has seen massive growth over the past number of years, with over 100,000 PV panel (photovoltaic) installations, and counting. 

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Thanks to the increased demand for homes and businesses to turn to renewable energy sources, and Ireland’s pledge to reach Net Zero by 2050, solar power companies across the country have more and more projects that require a greater capacity, more space and increased investment for capturing the sun’s energy through Solar PV systems. 

The result? A rather unique set of opportunities for farmers and landowners to Ireland to make an additional source of income – by becoming a solar panel farm. 

In this post, we’ll explore: 

• Leasing your premises to turn a profit – and who you might lease to
• 3 benefits of leasing your land, or of starting a solar farm yourself
• Solar farm land requirements: the best types of land for solar panels
• How to start a solar farm: your 6-step process

But first…what is a solar panel farm?

A solar panel farm, also known as a solar photovoltaic (Solar PV) power station, is a large-scale power system that uses energy generated from the sun. A number of solar panels are installed together, typically in the form of ground mounted panels, to create a solar power plant.

The energy generated from the solar panels is then fed into an electricity grid – or a power grid – which is owned by a utility company. Any limits to the amount of energy that can be exported will be dictated by the power company, depending on local grid infrastructure. Private investors may also be interested in using a solar farm for extra space and energy production, while anyone with excess land may use it to create a new income stream.

Who wants to lease land?

Although you might be reading this post in the hopes of setting up a solar farm yourself, it’s likely that you’ll be leasing your land to a company and letting them do the heavy lifting for you.

You’ll probably be leasing to renewable energy companies who need extra space to scale up their operations. In some cases, you may lease it to a private company – like a hotel, a university, or another organisation who may wish to use your land as an investment. Either way, you can create a new source of income from your idle land, knowing that you’re helping to build a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future for Ireland while you’re at it.

These private or renewable energy companies need surface rights, project rights and lease rights in order to develop solar panel farm installations – and your land might be exactly what they’re looking for. If it is, and if you’re willing to welcome solar panels onto your property, you have the chance to lock in consistent, secure and guaranteed income for decades to come. Phew!

Benefits of starting a solar farm

As businesses around the country seek to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, solar farms in Ireland are gaining popularity, fast. 

Rather than missing out on the opportunity, take a look at some of the key benefits in a) setting up a solar farm yourself or b) leasing your land out to another company so they can start a solar power plant.

1. New Income Stream

If you want to utilise your land to its full potential and create a new form of long-term income, starting a solar farm is a worthy investment. 

Whether this income is from selling electricity back to the grid or in the form of rental income (e.g. leasing to a solar company, another utility company or private investor), it will be steady income that generates dividends for years to come, with very little effort on your part.

In terms of how much can you earn from a solar farm – such as expected income per acre – well, that’s a tough one to answer. This is because your estimated income will depend on factors like the size of your solar farm, the “volume of solar energy” it can produce (affected by location, type of system etc), the distance of your solar farm to the grid, and the condition of your land.

To give a rough estimate, a power company may pay landowners around €1,200 per acre on their solar farm annually. This depends on the size and scope of the project. So to work out your total projected revenue per year, simply multiply this figure by the amount of acres you’re leasing. As you’ll see, it’s a figure not to be sniffed at!

2. Growing Industry

Solar projects are setting new records in terms of capacity, while the solar farm industry has grown faster than any other renewable energy sources (including natural gas or wind farms). This growth, along with advances in solar technology, means that the costs involved in the supply and installation of Solar PV systems has dropped in recent years.

And as more and more companies are now seeking an alternative to fossil fuels, with a renewable energy source that has no carbon emissions, the solar energy projects trend is bound to increase even more…meaning lower costs for those interested in investing. So it’s a great time to start a solar farm business!

3. It’s Affordable

How much income you’ll earn per acre depends greatly on how many panels you (or the investor) can afford to install in the first place. Because the greater the number of panels, the greater the potential energy production. A higher amount of capital results in higher profit margins and a greater return on investment. 

Although installation costs used to seem pretty steep, with government grants and other incentives like tax breaks now available, it’s a much more affordable time to start a solar farm. 

3 Solar farm land requirements

So what kind of land is attractive for solar farming? Below, we’ve outlined a few key factors which you, or your prospective investor, would need to bear in mind before starting a solar farm on your land. 

1. Size of Land

If you’re thinking of using your land to harness clean energy, you might be wondering how many acres do you need for a solar farm? Well, well it comes to solar farms, size matters: as the more land you have, the more groundmounted solar panels you can fit, and the more renewable energy you can generate and sell. 

If your land isn’t large enough to hold a solar panel farm, the project won’t be viable. Generally, your land must be at least 4.5 acres to generate even a megawatt of energy – so we’re talking about tens of acres when it comes to average sizes of solar farms in Ireland.

Around 50 acres of land seems to be the current requirement, and it can be in any shape as long as the leased land results in several megawatts of green energy. However, as we’ll explore in the following points, this depends on your land’s location and access to the grid. You may need a minimum of 100 acres or, in some locations, your land simply won’t be viable, no matter how big it is.

2. Land Condition & Location

Solar farms require flat land with few obstructions in order to be most effective. If you have large trees on your property, they can be cleared – but not only is this detrimental to the environment, it can also increase the overall project cost. While major obstructions that would result in too much shade might be too big an obstacle for solar farm developers.

Typically, leasers and solar developers will also look for little to no wetlands (as swampy areas are harder to build upon), with a maximum incline of 5 degrees for their solar projects. In order to check the condition of your land – including factors such as soil quality, drainage capacity and flooding potential – the developer will usually carry out a risk assessment and report, at their own expense.

Ideally, the leased land will receive plenty of sunlight per year – which, fortunately, Ireland does! – and be stable enough to hold all of the necessary solar equipment. In Ireland, average sunshine ranges from 5–6.5 hours daily, with the most sunshine occurring in May and June. Note, this figure depends on where in the country your land is located, so some solar farms (like those in the South) will have a greater capacity to generate solar energy.

3. Proximity to Grid Infrastructure

How close is your land to the nearest town? How are the roads connecting the two? It might not seem like an important consideration to you, but it’s imperative to a potential investor – because the closer the solar farm is to whatever grid it’ll be exporting electricity to, the better. This cuts costs down for the company and also means the energy produced can be used locally; which is also attractive to investors.

Usually, the land that’s being developed or leased to form a solar power plant will only be a couple of miles from a power substation.

Meanwhile, access to the site is important in terms of keeping transport and construction costs lower for the solar farm project in the first place, while making it easier to maintain.

Unsure if your land is suitable? We can help…

Of course, the best way to check if your land would make a good solar farm is to speak to an experienced solar installation company – at Caldor Solar, we have over a decade’s experience in supplying and installing PV systems of all sizes, throughout the country. We’d be happy to assess your land and offer additional information and advice once you speak to our team.

6 steps to build a solar farm

• Do your research: Set a cost per acre of solar panels, know your solar farm requirements, learn who might be interested in leasing, check your proposed return on investment and whether it’s worth it – you can ask to see the company’s business plan for these costs and estimations. If setting up a small-scale solar farm yourself, you’ll need to create your own business plan at this point, including the type of solar farm you plan to build.

• Get an assessment: To build a solar farm, you’ll have to get the required permits in place. For this, your site will need to be reviewed. If it’s deemed suitable, you can move onto the negotiation stage of your leased land, if that’s the route you’re taking.

• Sign the lease: Your lease, or option agreement, will be drafted by the developer. It will cover monthly rent, the amount of land required, plus the length of the lease. Read it carefully and make sure you’re ok with all of the developers’ requirements before you sign.

• Apply for permits: The next stage of setting up a solar farm is to apply for any relevant planning permission you need – if you’re leasing to a developer, they will lodge a planning application and draft the necessary reports to make the application process as smooth as possible. Note, in your ‘research’ stage, you should have already familiarised yourself with land use regulations in your county – some locations don’t permit solar farms. 

• Installation: Once all permits and permissions have been granted, the developer will take action to install all of the relevant solar panel equipment (set out in your agreement) – on a solar panel farm, this is typically rows of ground mounted panels. If creating your own solar panel farm, you could buy all of the necessary components: from solar PV modules to ground mounts to inverters, cables and junction boxes. But we would highly recommend using an established supplier and installation company to do all of this for you – as you’ll want your system to be of the highest quality possible, in order to run a solar power farm that lasts.
• Maintenance: As per your agreement, an ongoing maintenance and operations plan will be up and running – you don’t need to do a thing, other than enjoy your new income!

Final thoughts: are solar farms in Ireland worth it?

If you have a good deal of land that you’re not using, or that isn’t turning any profit, it’s well worth considering a solar panel farm. What might seem like a lot of of hassle at first – negotiating with developers (if you’re leasing) or getting permits and permissions (if building the solar farm yourself), not to mention clearing your land and going about the process of installing ground mounted solar panels…even if an outside party is doing it all for you, it can seem a bit disruptive.

But consider this: for a small amount of labour now, your idle land could be generating a significant annual profit, for years to come. Solar panels perform best from 25–30 years, after all, and require very little maintenance. All you (or your lessee, if that’s in your agreement) has to do is to keep the space clear and relatively free from obstructions and your solar panel farm will keep generating power, and profit, too.

To recap, anyone can set up a solar farm. You might like to follow the steps we’ve outlined to build a solar farm by yourself, or to lease it out to another company. The best types of land for solar farming are flat, clear and relatively dry, with proximity to the power grid and grid infrastructure. Finally, you’ll need to agree on terms with whoever you’re leasing the land to (if that’s the direction you’ve chosen) and to get all the necessary permits in place before installation. There are grants available towards the cost of solar panel installation, so don’t miss out on those, either! 

If you need any more help or advice around building a solar panel farm, Caldor Solar would be happy to help. Since 2015, we’ve guided individuals, businesses and communities as they made the switch to solar – and our mission is to help them cut costs and save energy while helping Ireland reach NetZero.

To find out more about how you can help the solar revolution, get in touch: 01 25 333 49

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ABOUT CALDOR SOLAR

Caldor Solar are solar power pioneers in Ireland, specialising in both residential and commercial solar panels. Check out our testimonials and online reviews to learn more. Or chat with us on 01 253 3349 for a personalised quote.