An application for 16 solar panels, measuring 1m x 1.65m, on land to the rear of a house called Penycwm, in Parcllyn, has been approved by Ceredigion planning officers.

The photovoltaic array has the potential to generate around 4,538kW hours of zero carbon renewable electricity a year, a planning document states.

“Several attempts have been made to increase the energy efficiency of the property over several years and these have been exhausted,” documents state, adding that heating and powering the home is “prohibitively expensive.”

The panels will be placed on land used as a vegetable patch to the rear of the detached house, which boarders the Quinetiq/Ministry of Defence facility and woodland as well as a neighbouring property’s garden to the north.

The panels will be mounted no more than 0.4m above the ground and laid out in rows of one to two panel.

A surface cable along the western boundary of the property will connect the generated energy, with the plan to make the house self-sufficient for large parts of the yea, although it will remain connected to the main electricity grid in case needed.