Farmers swap crops for energy as east of England solar farm proposals double

Applications on sites in Herts, Cambridgeshire and Essex climb to 840 megawatts in last five months

The number of new solar farms planned for the east of England has more than doubled in recent months as farmers decide to swap crops for clean energy.

New solar farm applications for sites across Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex in the last five months have climbed to 840 megawatts, or the same as 2m household solar panels.