This summer Hamish Janson installed 100 solar modules at his farm in Newton Valence with the help of Godalming-based leasing experts, Reality Finance Solutions.
The small solar farm will allow the farm to generate 21,000kWh of clean electricity every year – half of which will be used to power the farm’s large drying and storage plant, which costs over £1,100 a year to run.
Janson explained why he approached Reality Finance solutions to explore leasing as an option for securing a solar array: “The leasing route was a good idea and will give me a return of 12 percent before interest. Leasing is a weapon to use instead of bank finance as I wanted to do this off balance sheet and at a fixed rate for five years. This was a sensible way to go.
“There’s also a tax angle as you get an immediate write-off on the leasing payments and we’re deferring the payment of £38,755 capital.
The total annual revenue from the solar farm is predicted to reach £4,630, meaning that the farm will see a return of almost 12 percent before depreciation and tax.
Reality Finance Solutions’ Managing Director, Jon Leslie, added: “We’re delighted to have been able to help Hamish create his solar farm, which, is such a strong trend that more than a quarter of UK farmers are using renewable energy, according to a recent report by the National Farmers Union and NatWest.
“Now it’s promising to overtake rural tourism as a secondary income for the agricultural sector. Of course, we’re very happy Hamish saw the commercial sense in leasing, and we’d be delighted to help anyone wanting to go green – farmers or commercial enterprises.”
The solar array will not only slash the farm’s operating costs and offer a competitive return, but it will also dramatically reduce the farm’s carbon output – negating the emission of around 11.5 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.