Traveling north on the train from London to York, I found myself next to an empty window seat. I’ve often travelled this route, gazing out at the changing patterns of clouds and light over wide open fields. Yesterday I could try to capture the experience without irritating the person in the seat next door.
These photos are in sequence, minus the failures in between. In two pairs you can see the clouds stay the same as the countryside passes by below them. Click on the first image below to follow the journey.
The East Coast Main Line isn’t all this flat. This is the section from Grantham to Newark.
I have mixed feelings about the array of solar panels. While I’m glad to see investment in renewable energy, to me it makes no sense to put such an installation on prime farm land. Food crops could make good use of the solar energy falling on this field. There’s no shortage of out of town warehouse roofs where the sunlight is completely wasted.
Beyond the Window Box 
July 11, 2016 at 11:39 am
I have yet to take a good photo off a moving train, well done! I agree about these particular panels. I’ve heard that a solar panel during its lifespan makes as much energy as it is later required to dismantle it, so in effect it’s just another case of money laundry. (This is a friend’s opinion.)
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July 12, 2016 at 11:03 pm
I’m sure Scooj is right that solar panels are much more efficient that they used to be. They are an important part of the energy mix now but better on roofs!
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July 11, 2016 at 11:54 am
I like the roof idea too.
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July 11, 2016 at 6:48 pm
Beautiful post. Solar panels are a part of the mix of solutions to keeping our planet healthy. Some sacrifices will need to be made along the way, but their impacts are far less damaging than coal, oil, gas, fracking etc. Since 2010, solar panels have improved greatly. The increase in demand has hugely reduced the costs (financial and environmental) of production and dismantling. Stories like this persist, but are fairly out dated.
For farmers, they will be looking at the fixed return they can make per acre. I suspect more will turn to solar panels as a way of guaranteeing fixed income, especially now with the threat of reform of a UK style CAP and of the introduction of tariffs on exports to Europe.
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July 12, 2016 at 11:01 pm
I completely agree that PV panels are an important part of the energy mix but still feel it doesn’t make ecological sense to use good farm land for them – even if it makes economic sense for the farmer. There’s so much waste space on roofs and brownfield sites.
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