If solar were fashion, we'd say it was having a moment. Over the past few years we've gone from near zero solar photovoltaic panels to 2.5GW of capacity. Of this 1.9GW is installed on rooftops and 0.6GW on giant solar farms, with planning secured for a further 0.9GW of utility scale projects.

Ordinarily, I'd greet these farms supplying renewable energy with a cheery, "Welcome to the grid!" Unfortunately, my real response on seeing one on a beloved rolling south Devon hillside was more profane. Developers tend to say they're of "low visual impact". Actually they're positively industrial, guaranteed to bring out your inner Nimby.

Why now? Solar panels (produced in the Far East) cost a third of what they did three years ago. And there's been a change with Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), too. Generators used to get two ROCs for every MWh of solar-produced electricity. They can be bought and traded among energy suppliers. But in March 2013 these were scaled down to 1.6 ROCs per MWh. Cue a scramble to generate more capacity.

The southwest is the UK's sunniest spot and home to over 70 solar farms with a capacity of 0.29GW. But you can take heart that we're already nearing grid capacity. And stand by for new guidance from the government on planning. Rumour is that the rules are getting tighter.

Farmers are keen as mustard to lease their fields for panels, and you can see why. A 44-acre site can net in the region of £50,000 a year in rent. And as long as sheep may safely graze in the gaps between the mounted panels they still get the single farm subsidy payment. When it gets to the complex patchwork of businesses developing the farms it gets more difficult to follow the money, as they tend to use equally complex financial models. What is clear is that solar offers them excellent access to the financial markets. So well done them, but what about us?

Despite their monstrous size, it should be possible to learn to love solar farms. They are inert, contain no moving parts, produce no noise. They live on low-grade agricultural land and after 25 years (their average lifespan) they can be removed without trace. They might actually give the soil a welcome break.

But there's a sad lack of projects offering cheap energy for locals. (Good Energy's Delabole wind farm and the single westmillsolar.coop in Watchfield are rare exceptions). So far big solar's brought scant power to the people.

Green crush

A still from the game Of Orcs & Men

Eco warriors may say that they have enough to do with liberating the real planet earth, but are there strategic lessons to be learned from computer games? Gamesasylum.com nominates Of Orcs & Men the "greenest game you've never played", lamenting the fact that this allegorical battle between rapacious humankind and the oppressed orcs hasn't been a smash hit (yet). Certainly the orcs confirm one widely held ecological maxim: it isn't easy being green.

Greenspeak: DeLycrafi (de-laikra-fai) verb

Bid to cleanse cycling of sport-specific clothing and presumably rid us of the Mamil (middle-aged man in Lycra). Part of Boris Johnson's drive to promote London's accessible new cycling infrastructure. Inevitably there's a backlash…



If you have an ethical dilemma, send an email to Lucy at lucy.siegle@observer.co.uk