French Farmer Commissions Brittany Solar Project

The farm’s owner, Rémy Bresteaux, ordered the plant from the French system supplier Solar Diffusion and to finance and operate the solar plant, Bresteaux and his wife founded the company Solar Production Lassay together with Solar Diffusion. "For investments of roughly 100,000 euros and more it is more attractive in France for farmers to operate their solar power plants as corporate entities," explained Michel Milhavet, a Solar Diffusion employee.

In France systems which are integrated into buildings earn an especially high feed-in tariffs. The tariff currently paid for power fed into the grid is euro 0.6/kWh compared with 32.82 cents/kWh for free-standing installations.

"As a second source of income, photovoltaics is ideal for farmers," said Daniel Bellanger, the managing director of Solar Diffusion. "The installation here in Lassay is the second largest of its type in Bretagne and a good example of how a farmer can improve his income by using solar power."