A co-operative solar farm has begun producing clean energy after its share issue raised £2.6m in just eight weeks. Hampshire’s West Solent Solar Co-operative ‘switched on’ on 27 June, and will now provide energy for around 600 homes.

The co-op hit its target for the 2.4MW solar farm after 500 investors signed up, oversubscribing the offer by more than £250,000. Director Anthony Woolhouse said: “We’re delighted that we were able to raise the funds in such a short space of time.

“This is an excellent example of a community-owned and managed renewable energy project which we hope can be repeated elsewhere. As well as bringing green energy to Hampshire, it offers local people and others the opportunity to benefit from better returns than those currently offered by banks and building societies, while fighting climate change.”

The solar farm has been built on a 12.6 acre field in the Pennington and Lymington area, which was recently restored after a decade of gravel extraction. The project was delivered on time and on budget.

Solar project developer, Solarcentury, built the farm. Frans van den Heuvel, chief executive at Solarcentury, said the company was extremely pleased to have secured its first deal with a community-owned project. It was “bringing the benefits of clean solar electricity to an organisation that is making community-owned and managed renewable energy production a reality,” he added.