WRAYSBURY SOLAR FARM

This 3.1MW photovoltaic solar farm was installed on approximately 5.3Ha of land at FCC Wraysbury closed Landfill site, near Staines-upon-Thames. The former sand and gravel pit was infilled with domestic, industrial and commercial waste during the 1970’s and 1980’s and was completed with intert waste prior to restoration in the mid 1990s.

The solar array was developed by Ethical Power and Sirius Renewable Energy utilising a unique ground anchoring system for panel mounting frame installation. The ground anchor system allows the solar farm to be deployed on areas with shallow soils, thus protecting the engineered landfill cap. The ground anchor installation works were designed and supervised by Sirius Environmental.

The construction works involved the installation of some 5,086 anchored piles and 11,000 solar panels, the solar farm was connected to the grid in time for the 30th March 2017 Renewables Obligation deadline.

The solar farm has generated 3,059,048kwh of electricity in its first year of production, sufficient to power the equivalent of approximately 963 homes per year. Over the lifetime of the facility, approximately 35,170 tonnes of CO2 will have been off set, which is the equivalent to taking approximately 1,004 cars off the road each year