Terra Solar, which is leading the development of solar energy generation in Clare, has submitted additional information to Clare County Council in relation to its application to build the county’s first solar farm at Cratloe.
Following a request for additional information from the council’s planning department, Terra Solar engaged independent experts and undertook additional surveys of the Ballymorris site in order to ensure that council planners and residents could be assured on all aspects of the proposed development.
“We have carefully chosen the site at Ballymorris and have designed our solar farm so as to have minimal impact on the environment and on the local community. We are pleased to provide this additional information to Clare County Council and it is important that the general public also take the opportunity to understand our proposals”, said Donal Fewer, Project Director, Terra Solar.
“We will continue to work with the council and local residents as we seek to develop solar energy generation in Clare,” he vowed.
If Terra Solar is successful with its planning application, it will invest in developing the solar farm at Ballymorris which will generate enough electricity to power 1,200 homes.
Solar power is one of the cleanest sources of energy and has minimal impact on the environment as it does not emit any pollution when it is produced or consumed. This one solar farm alone will remove 1,800 tonnes of carbon emissions from the atmosphere in Co. Clare every year.
The solar panels are fixed in position on ground mounted frames. This means there is minimal ground disturbance during construction and sheep can continue to graze on the land once the solar farm becomes operational. No noise is generated by solar panels and because they will be a maximum of 2.8 metres (approx. 9 ft) high, they will be rarely visible above the existing hedgerows and trees on the site.
With advances in solar technology, energy can be harvested from the sun even on cloudy days – direct sunlight is not required.
Dan Danaher
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.