Jeremy Clarkson to cover brewery with ‘ugly’ solar panels
Jeremy Clarkson to cover brewery with ‘ugly’ solar panels
Patrick GalbraithWed, November 11, 2026 at 6:34 PM UTC
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Hawkstone Brewery brews beer using barley grown on Jeremy Clarkson’s 1,000-acre farm
Jeremy Clarkson is to cover his Hawkstone Brewery with solar panels despite previously calling them “ugly”.
Mr Clarkson, the former Top Gear presenter and Clarkson’s Farm star, will have a solar power system installed on his Gloucestershire brewery to cut energy bills and reduce its environmental impact. He has compared owning solar panels to having an “ugly wife or an ugly car”.
Ben Bonham, the head brewer at Hawkstone, said: “We’re always looking for ways to improve how we operate, and investing in solar energy is a natural next step for us. Brewing is an energy-intensive process, so generating our own renewable electricity will help us reduce our environmental impact.”
Hawkstone was launched in 2021 to brew beer using barley grown on Diddly Squat, Mr Clarkson’s 1,000-acre farm, which he bought in 2008.
Alongside its core range of two lagers, a pilsner, and a pale ale, Hawkstone produces stout and cider made from apples grown in a vineyard managed by Kaleb Cooper, a co-star of Clarkson’s Farm.
More than 4,000 pubs across Britain stock Hawkstone, and it is on the shelves in some 2,000 retailers, including Waitrose and Tesco. The brewer recently posted sales of £44.9m for the year ending March 2026.
Mr Clarkson has been an outspoken critic of net zero. He has called Ed Miliband, the former energy secretary, “Ed Sillyband”.
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He has also criticised the appearance of solar panels. Writing in The Sunday Times earlier this year, he said: “Whenever I see solar panelling on someone’s roof, I get so angry my hair starts to itch. Because God almighty, it’s ugly.
“Nobody wants an ugly wife or an ugly car ... so why would you want to live in a house made ugly by solar panels?”
Mr Clarkson’s business has appointed Nottinghamshire-based green-energy company Geo Green Power to carry out the solar installation at its site at Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, more than 10 miles from Mr Clarkson’s farm.
The panels will provide 24.25 megawatt-hours of energy each year, powering the brewery’s heavy equipment, including grain-milling machinery.
The system is expected to save the brewery significant money on running costs, as commercial energy prices in the UK are among the highest in the world.
James Cunningham, the managing director of Geo Green Power, said: “We’re incredibly excited to get started. We know what a great opportunity this is for Hawkstone Brewery.”
Mr Clarkson was contacted for comment.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
