PLANS have been submitted to repair a Wellington solar farm which has been suffering equipment failures making it less viable.

The nine-acre Tonedale solar farm located off Linden Hill was built 11 years ago with 22,000 eight-feet high photovoltaic panels.

It was designed to produce 5MW of electricity which would be enough to power up to 1,500 homes for a year.

But, Ana Bustamante, of Quintas Energy UK, for client Stern Energy Ltd, said the site’s two inverter cabins now needed replacing.

The inverters convert the DC electricity produced by the solar panels to an AC supply for the National Grid network.

Ms Bustamante said while solar panels could last from between 25 to 40 years, inverters had a lifespan of 10 to 15 years, and the standard warranty duration offered by manufacturers was only five years.

She said the inverters were ‘essential components without which a solar farm cannot export power’.

Ms Bustamante said: “Every time an inverter fails, it paralyses production until repairs can be completed, which may depend on obtaining spare parts which often have long lead times for delivery.

“The viability of a solar installation depends entirely on being able to produce during periods of irradiation.

“The inverters at Tonedale are suffering frequent failures, and spare parts are now almost impossible to find for such comparatively old models.

“As such, they require urgent replacement with updated models, since the current models have been discontinued.

“Replacing the inverters will allow the solar farm to continue to produce clean energy at its installed capacity, contributing to net zero and climate change targets.”

Ms Bustamante said the work would take about four weeks in small areas within the solar farm, and the new equipment would be quieter.

Somerset Council is asking for any public comments on the planning application to be submitted by May 8.