28/08/2026
An unusual alliance has formed in Kent. Green and Reform councillors, rarely on the same side of anything, are united in opposing plans to cover more than 5,000 acres of farmland with solar panels. Their argument: roofs before rural.
It's a debate we've seen before. Years ago, our Chief Revenue Officer Pearse McHenry helped make the case for supporting rooftop solar in Ireland, work that helped shape the grant schemes that followed.
Large solar farms are more cost-efficient per unit of energy, that's genuinely true. But when you consider using existing space instead of more land, how quickly rooftop solar can be installed, and the benefit to local communities and the grid, the difference isn't as big as it might seem.
"The debate usually stops at where the panel goes. What matters just as much is what happens to the electricity once it's generated. A rooftop system that exports cheap at midday and reimports expensive at teatime is doing half a job. Pair it with a battery, an EV or a hot water diverter and the household keeps the value, and the grid gets a flexible asset instead of another lump of unmanaged generation. That's the argument for rooftop that doesn't get made often enough." — Pearse McHenry
At myenergi, we believe every rooftop generating and managing its own energy is part of the solution.
Read the full FT piece: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xWNp00
