Controversy over solar panel installation on greenfield site

However, Simon De La Rue, commercial director for renewable energy company Little Green Energy, said there were “many obstacles” to putting panels on houses.

Having had “a brief look at the roof space” on the applicant’s house, he said things such as dormer windows could reduce roof space, meaning “less panels” could be installed.

De La Rue stated that, for the “same amount of cost in terms of labour, wiring and access”, it would mean the “levelised cost of energy is going to be very high whilst also not meeting the property’s electrical demands”.

He said planners needed to look at allowing people to “reduce their reliance on the network but do it in a cost-effective way”.

“What we all need to look at is how can we achieve that whilst looking after and protecting our natural environment,” he said.

He added that he believed that “good planting policies when it comes to biodiversity” around the solar panels and ensuring that “infrastructure that’s going in the ground is low impact” could be a solution.

“There are ways to do it in a sensitive manner”, he said.

De La Rue also said he believed installing solar panels on greenfield sites should be decided on “a case-by-case basis”.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X, external and Facebook, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk, external.