Solar farm the size of 200 football pitches planned for Houghton near Stockbridge

The huge farm – consisting of 225,456 solar panels – would be laid out in south-facing rows across fields the size of 200 football pitches.

And they would produce enough electricity to power 31,500 people.

German green energy giant Kronos Solar Projects is behind the scheme, which would be built on a 200-acre site owned by Test Valley councillor Danny Busk at Eveley Farm in Houghton near Stockbridge.

Kronos project manager Makan Yarandi said all generated electricity would be connected to the National Grid and the site – just south of the A30 and roughly 78 hectares – was “very well hidden.”

Landowner Cllr Busk said the site was poor quality agricultural land and the planned solar park would make a good alternative use of it.

He said: “It’s currently an arable field and it’s the worst field on the farm for cropping. It’s useless and doesn’t really grow anything.

“The proposed site is extremely well hidden and is basically unproductive land and a former air strip.”

Residents will get their first chance to see what the proposals look like at a public meeting at Houghton Village Hall on Tuesday between 5pm and 7pm.

Bosses from Kronos Solar Projects will be at the exhibition and they will be taking questions from the public.

Houghton Parish Council’s vice chairman Ingrid Burt said: “Parish councillors will be going along to the meeting and will form an opinion after that.”

An environment assessment of the proposed site is being carried out before Kronos submits a full planning application.

It’s known that there are archaeological sites nearby including ancient barrows.

Hampshire’s leader Roy Perry said any archaeology on the site must be taken into account when the planning application is dealt with.

Mr Perry said: “Test Valley Borough Council is the local planning authority for the solar farm and will make any planning decision and I am confident Test Valley will take into account all environmental implications of the solar panels as it does other sources of energy.

“Hampshire County Council places importance on protecting the character of Hampshire and maintaining the high quality of life its residents enjoy.

“Archaeology and the historic environment around us forms part of Hampshire’s identity and the sense of place. It also provides a consistent draw for tourists who help to boost the county’s economy.”

A Friends of the Earth spokesperson said the proposals were good news for Britain’s environment. He said: “Developing the UK’s huge solar power potential is essential for tackling climate change and ending the nation’s reliance on dirty and increasingly costly fossil fuels.”

Philip Wolfe, founder of Wiki-Solar, a world-renowned database on solar power stations, told the Daily Echo that the Houghton scheme was “likely to be the largest in the UK – if not in capacity, certainly in area.”

Currently the UK’s largest solar energy farm is on a former Second World War airfield at Wymeswold in Leicestershire and has 130,000 panels.

Mr Wolfe said that the UK was experiencing a solar energy rush with 160 applications for solar farms being submitted in the last 16 months.

Earlier this month Kronos revealed proposals for a 68-hectare solar farm at Itchen Stoke, near Winchester, on land which is part of Grange Estate owned by the Baring family.

This 30 megawatt farm could produce electricity for 18,700 homes.