Cotswold Farm Park's Adam Henson urges businesses to invest in solar power as Park installs its second batch of solar panels

Visitor attraction Cotswold Farm Park has installed a second tranche of solar panels to protect it from rising energy costs and to become more energy self-sufficient.

And BBC presenter Adam Henson, whose late father Joe Henson founded the attraction, is encouraging rural businesses to follow his lead.

The solar power generated on-site will provide 25 per cent of the business’ energy needs, reduce its energy bills by nearly 20 per cent and boost its energy security for the next half a century.

It is also playing a significant role in the Farm Park’s ambitions to become sustainable and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The business has recently installed a second solar PV system, taking the total size to 100kWp, in total generating around 92,000kWh each year.

This clean electricity is generated at an approx. cost of 4-5pence/kilowatt hour, including maintenance costs, compared to the current price of National Grid electricity of 30-40p/kWh – a 600 per cent difference.

Cumulatively, the two roof-mounted systems will reduce the Farm Park’s overall energy bills by 20 per cent at current tariffs and will help the business negate the effects of future grid price rises.

A recent survey by the British Chambers of Commerce revealed that 65 per cent of firms expect their prices to rise in the coming months, with 56 per cent of these stating rising fuel costs as one of the top three reasons.

Solar power enables the Farm Park to take direct control of some of its costs and help protect it from future price increases, especially important as Britain’s energy price cap which protects domestic households from soaring energy prices, doesn’t apply to businesses.

Because the fuel - the sun - is free and the engineering inside the solar panels is straightforward and cheap to maintain, the cost of generating electricity stays the same for the system’s life span of at least 25 years.

“It’s essential for the long-term future of the Cotswold Farm Park through our work in rare breed conservation, entertaining and educating our visitors and employing 90 local people that we stay true to our core values," said Adam.

"Reducing our impact on the planet by increasing our green energy supply is part of our journey to become more environmentally friendly and sustainable whilst maintaining a viable business through cost savings.”

Ben Harrison, MD of Mypower, the company installing the latest solar panels, said: “Solar PV has proven over a number of years to be a very effective way of generating clean, low-cost electricity.

"Many businesses are seeing their systems pay for themselves in 3-5 years with a ROI of over 20 per cent. More and more businesses are coming to us wanting to invest in solar power.”

The solar power will also contribute towards reducing the Farm Park’s impact on the environment.

“We’re very pleased with the service provided by My Power to increase our Solar PV system," said Adam.

"The amount of carbon dioxide released through our business activities has been reduced by 20 tonnes /year – the equivalent of flying to Melbourne in Australia and back 10 and a half times.

“Practising responsible stewardship towards our planet is very important to us, and we’re actively assessing our operations to introduce eco-friendly practises wherever we can.

"We’d urge businesses to consider using solar power to help their business and the planet simultaneously. It’s a win-win all round.”