Case Studies

Since 2021, the Old Farm Shop in Abingdon has partnered with Corrie Energy Partners to actively reduce its operational costs and carbon footprint. As a family-run business known in the local area for supplying and producing high-quality, locally sourced,free range meats, fruit, and vegetables, The Old Farm Shop is passionate about minimising their ecological impact. The shop is well known in their local area and has won numerous awards for their produce.

Corrie Energy Partners has installed a pilot project on-site, beside the farm shop’s playground. The project includes three generations of Corrie solar trackers, together with one fixed solar panel as a control for performance comparison. The farm shop has restricted roof space, so this innovative setup allows the farm shop to operate at normal capacity while contributing to a reduction in daily electricity costs.

While this project is still in progress, the panels on trackers are currently producing 21-24% more than the control. This exciting comparison not only helps The Old Farm Shop meet its sustainability goals and reduce operational costs, but also demonstrates the advantages of a solar system that generates more energy over less land space, while minimising ecological impacts on the ground. This will benefit future customers, who face the costs associated with Biodiversity Net Gain, which has become mandatory in the UK from February 2024.

Our Cow Molly, a dairy farm established in 1947, is a true example of traditional farming with modern sustainable practices. Nestled on one of Sheffield’s picturesque seven hills in Dungworth, this family-run business is celebrated for its sustainably produced, award-winning milk and ice cream.

Eddie Andrews, the owner, is deeply committed to sustainability and has ambitious plans to transform the farm into a fully sustainable operation. Currently, the farm meets part of its energy needs with a rooftop solar installation. A pilot solar installation provided by Corrie Energy Partners is set to extend the time of day during which solar power is generated. Future plans include expanding their solar installation to a new barn to further improve the farm’s energy independence and power an electrolyser for green hydrogen production. In line with their forward-thinking approach, the farm also hosts the University of Sheffield’s H3 project, where leafy greens are grown in polyurethane foam.

In late 2024, Our Cow Molly became the first UK farm to deploy Corrie Energy’s Latitude40 solar trackers, with six installed by the public car park. Each tracker carries four 450W panels, following the sun to maximise output across the day. Unlike fixed systems, these trackers generate additional power earlier in the morning and later in the evening, perfectly matching farm demand for milking and processing. 

On 29 April 2025, the bifacial units delivered 47% more kWh per panel than the adjacent rooftop solar array. The trackers are highly visible to customers visiting the farm shop and café, where they have already become a conversation starter and a symbol of local energy leadership. Eddie and the team are proud to showcase their commitment to innovation; they recently hosted an Open Farm Day focused on renewables, where the trackers took centre stage.

Corrie’s solar trackers not only generate more on a sunny day, but also have winter benefits. Eddie was thrilled when he noticed that the trackers, unlike the rooftop panels, had shed the snow accumulated over night. Eddie says that over the winter he could “typically lose 2-3 weeks of solar energy from [rooftop] panels that are covered in snow”. However, Latitude40 “consistently produce[s] energy through the heaviest snow falls, which has been fantastic for us as a farm.”

Beyond improving generation, Latitude40 has created a model agrivoltaic site, transforming previously single-use land into a productive dual-use landscape. The 10.6kW tracker array, installed in winter 2024, had already generated 93kWh of clean electricity by April 2025. The installation area is shared with a flock of sheep which graze freely beneath the panels, demonstrating a successful example of solar grazing, where livestock and renewables coexist on the same land. Over the same period, the farm’s 14kW rooftop array generated 84kWh, demonstrating that the Latitude40 trackers deliver higher yields within a smaller footprint.

At Our Cow Molly, Latitude40 has had “really positive benefits for multiple reasons”—it integrates renewable energy generation with active agriculture to boost productivity and biodiversity. The installation demonstrates how agrivoltaics can enhance farm resilience, offering a scalable model for clean, locally powered farming in the UK.