A Test Valley village could become home to Britain’s biggest solar farm.

German green energy giant, Kronos Solar Projects, is behind the 200-acre scheme on land owned by Test Valley councillor, Danny Busk, at Eveley Farm, in Houghton, near Stockbridge.

Kronos claims the 225,456 solar panels will produce enough electricity for 31,500 people.

Under Kronos’s proposals, the panels will be laid out across two fields, covering an area the size of 100 football pitches, in rows going west to east. The south-facing panels will be no more than 3m in height, say the firm.

Makan Yarandi project manager with Kronos, said: “Our proposal will be on a very large-scale and generate roughly 35 MW. All generated electricity will be connected to the National Grid.

“This particular site is just south of the A30 and has been very carefully assessed for visibility and landscape issues and the assessments have indicated that the location will not be intrusive and as a result, it is very well hidden.”

He added: “We have developed more than a dozen parks in the UK and this particular site will be our biggest. In regards to our business operations, we have developed sites in Germany and operate on a global level.”

Philip Wolfe, founder of Wiki-Solar, a world-renowned data base on solar photovoltaic power stations, told the Advertiser that the Houghton scheme was “likely to be the largest in the UK - if not in capacity, certainly in area.”

Currently, the UK’s largest solar energy farm is on a former World War II airfield at Wymeswold, in Leicestershire. The £35 million project run by Lark Energy consists of 130,000 solar panels spread across 150 acres.

Mr Wolfe said the UK was experiencing a solar energy rush with 160 applications for solar farms being submitted in the last 16 months.

Earlier this month, Kronos revealed proposals for a 68-hectare solar farm at Itchen Stoke, near Winchester, on land which is part of Grange Estate owned by the Baring family. That 30 megawatt farm could produce electricity for 18,700 homes.

Owner of the Houghton site, Mr Busk explained the site was poor-quality agricultural land and the planned solar park would make a good alternative use.

“It’s currently an arable field and it’s the worst field on the farm for cropping and doesn’t really grow anything,” he said.

H said the land could not be seen from the A30 or Broughton Road.

Mr Busk said the site was used as a decoy during World War II to distract German war planes from attacking nearby Middle Wallop Airfield.

Residents will get their first chance to see what the proposals will look like at a public meeting at Houghton Village Hall on Tuesday (June 11) between 5pm and 7pm.

Bosses from Kronos will be at the exhibition to answer the public’s questions.

Houghton Parish Council’s vice chairman, Ingrid Burt, said: “Parish councillors will be going along to the meeting and will form an opinion after that.”

An environment assessment of the proposed site is being carried out before Kronos submits a full planning application. It’s known that there are archaeological sites nearby, including ancient barrows.