Ham Lane is our second community solar project and consists of 3600 solar panels on 4 acres of low grade grazing land. It has a peak power of 915 kW and cost just over £1 million to construct including the development costs.
Ham lane solar array from the air
Ham Lane performing 11% above predicted
Our project at Ham Lane has now been fully operational since November 2015 and is generating considerably better than predicted. Up to the end of December 2019 the array has generated 3,876MWh of electricity saving 2,033 tonnes of CO2
As you can see from the monthly chart below, May, June and October 2017, and March and April 2018 and June 2019 were dull months for sunshine. Despite this Ham Lane has performed well, generating 11% better than expected.
Ham Lane official opening ceremony
Jon Gething, Sir Ed Davey, and Steve Barrett from Solarsense at the official opening
Sir Ed Davey, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in the previous coalition government, officially opened the Ham Lane solar array on Saturday 16 July 2016.
Commenting on the opening, Sir Ed Davey said, “Working with community energy groups around the country is great, you can see that we are unlocking community entrepreneurialism, talent and opportunities in a way that couldn’t happen without local people coming together.
The fact that community groups can reinvent some of the relationships we have with the energy system, challenge some of the big corporates and spread wealth, these are just some of the extra benefits apart from the obvious lower energy bills and tackling climate change.
Solar will be cheaper than coal in the UK within a few years’ time and when you add storage to it, which is the final piece of the jigsaw, then the job will be done”.
The event was a joyous occasion attended by over 100 local business and community members. Sir Ed Davey delivered his speech alongside Jon Gething from Low Carbon Gordano, Stephen Barrett from Solarsense, and Kate Smith from Bristol Zoological Society.
Kate explained the importance of the Madagascar charity project which is being supported by Low Carbon Gordano through its community benefit fund. The project involves Solarsense travelling to Madagascar to install a range of solar arrays to help power the village and research centres aiding both the local community and research teams.
Members at the Ham Lane Opening Ceremony
Ham Lane construction
Following the successful share offer in May and June 2015, contracts for the construction of the Ham Lane array were placed with Solarsense and work got underway in August . Fine weather allowed the construction phase to progress rapidly and by the end of October the construction phase had been completed and commissioning and testing were underway. The last item to arrive was the inverter station which was installed at the end of October.
Inverter station installed
Inverter being unloaded
Solar panels installed and cable trench
WPD sub station at Ham Lane
The project has been developed by Solarsense who secured a lease on the land, negotiated a connection agreement with Western Power, and obtained planning consent.
Ham Lane solar array consists of around 3600 solar panels on some 4 acres of low grade grazing land. It will have a peak power of 915 kW and will cost just over £1 million to construct including the development costs.
