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We’ve had so many recent reports on the massive growth in Scotland’s wind and tide-based renewables industry that I have to admit I’d though solar power wasn’t for us but that too looks like adding to the array of sources which must make post-independence Scotland a massive exporter of power to rUK and Europe. For the former, see:
Energy, energy, energy: Scotland’s renewables projects, oil and gas discoveries just keep on coming
Now solar power is coming to Scotland and not to the sunny corners of East Lothian or the East Neuk of Fife but to a disused airfield up in Moray. In this report form Energy Voice, yesterday, we hear that developer Elgin Energy wants to locate 200 000 solar panels because this area too has long summer days. I gather you don’t need clear skies to get solar energy. 200 000 sounds a lot to me. Will this be another ‘biggest in the somewhere’ for Scotland? The report adds that the local sheep will not be displaced but merely ‘skip’ between the panels. Do mature sheep skip? There would have been some irony if they’d been cleared like the crofters before them.
The project is expected to provide enough power for 21 000 homes.
The project manager explains:
‘With solar energy you don’t necessarily need sunny weather – you need strong light. The south of England is the best part of the UK for it but Moray, and the whole east coast between Inverness and Aberdeen, has long days in the summer to compensate for that. The first thing we always get asked is where we’re going to put the turbines, but these will be no more than 2.8m (9ft) tall.’
https://www.energyvoice.com/otherenergy/137026/solar-power-plan-moray-airfield/
Talking-up Scotland 
John,
Great to have you back – a breath of clean fresh air to help clear the current stench of pseudo Anglo-Norman hypocrisy and cruelty!
The availability of affordable energy lies at the heart of any post-agrarian society and it’s good to know that Scotland has it in plenty.
Best wishes.
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Thanks William. Kind words much appreciated.
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Yes indeed using an airfield for something useful appeals to me. “Let there be light” springs to mind. Great swathes of pasture could accommodate to solar panels as well as grazing animals. Solar panels gain a lot from from higher latitudes in summer but I don’t know if that is offset by longer darkness in winter.
That area along the Moray Firth seems to have a micro climate similar to the East Neuk.
Combine the renewables of Hydro, Solar, Tidal and Wind turbines and we have a good chance of only using thermal power stations as back up.
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Yes , it is pleasing .
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PV’s do suffer during the winter. We have them on our house and some days in the depths of winter they produce nothing – not to worry, we’re in Spain for the worst of the winter where they have quite a few PV farms – they swivel and tilt to follow the sun. I assume the Moray ones will do the same if they get the go ahead. Over the year, the lighter days do compensate to some extent and we produce more Electricity each year than we consume, but we are lucky to have an eco-house and have a very low heating requirement due to high insulation and solar gain.
I’d like an Independent Scotland to prioritise renewables and the upgrading of the existing housing stock to reduce heating demands and create more comfortable and healthier home environments, and where possible fit pv’s to every roof.
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