Almost a quarter of our electricity came from the sun this autumn. Next year will see a third of our electricity come from that burning beacon in the sky, making us unique in the industry.

Winter might well be on its way but that doesn’t mean we’re going to forget the sun. This week we received the news that thanks to over 60 new solar generators we’ve started working with recently, autumn saw almost a quarter of our electricity come from the good old British sunshine. And there’s more – with many of these generators recently being upgraded, next year will see a third of our electricity come from that burning beacon in the sky. This makes us unique in the industry. And regardless of the proposed cuts to the Feed-in Tariff for new solar projects, we’ll continue to encourage independent renewable generation.

Andrew and Janice Hawkey of The Olde House in Chapel Amble, Cornwall are one of these new generators. They’ve offered self-catering cottage holidays on their 500 acre mixed-use farm since 1976 and decided to generate their own electricity to give the business independence from rising energy costs. Thanks to an array of over 1,000 solar panels with a combined capacity of 245kW they’re able to power a swimming pool, farm buildings and all 30 of their self-catering cottages with any surplus fed into the national grid. And because the panels are fixed to a framework 800mm above the ground, livestock are still able to graze below.

"Realising energy prices were on the increase and that more and more of our customers are interested in their own renewable energy generation, installing solar panels has allowed us to supply our holiday cottage business with the majority of its electricity and help secure our energy needs in the future,” says Janice.

And installing solar panels wasn’t the end of the Hawkey’s renewable journey. The pair is now helping to encourage other members of their community to start generating their own electricity. "With The Olde House we’re very interested in working with local suppliers and installers and to try to keep things within the local community. This has led us to become members of WREN, (Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network) who are looking to boost the town's electricity generation and provide a community fund to benefit the area."

They’ve also adopted a number of environmental measures on the farm including taking part in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme, creating a farm trail, opening a permissive footpath and increasing the habitat for rare birds.

More information on The Olde House or watch a video about the project.