In collaboration with the local authorities with responsibility for the Midi-Pyrénées administrative region and the Lot département, it has been decided to create an Ecoparc on the site in Cahors. As part of this project, Solarneo has:
- built a photovoltaic greenhouse (first section, covering 1 hectare), and- renovated an existing industrial building with an area of 1 000 sq.m.
In collaboration with local institutions, Solarneo has decided to:
- offer plots of land to local farmers so that they can farm local produce,- offer local food processing companies produce the property already grows (plums and walnuts),
- create an eco-village in collaboration with architects and builders in the Bouriane valley,
- organise an area devoted to the preservetion of threatened plant and animal species, in collaboration with the office for the preservetion of the biological heritage in the Midi-Pyrénées region,
- create an educational nerwork on sustainable development directed at the general public, in collaboration with the environment agency (ARPE) for the Midi-Pyrénées region and the associations it federates.
The site covers an area of more than one hectare; work on it took more than six months.
At the end of 2009, 18 greenhouses with a total ground area of 8 200 sq.m. and incorporating 1 296 photovoltaic panels put Solarneo back at the leading edge of research in this field. The generating plant produces a total of 362 kW, making it the most powerful photovoltaic greenhouse currently connected to the grid. It provides enough energy to cover the consumption of 300 homes – equivalent to the consumption of the neighbouring village.
