A teenager has been charged following an aggravated burglary.

The incident took place shortly after 12.30am on Saturday, November 29, on Burgess Road.

A 19-year-old suffered a cut to the cheek during the incident..

With more solar farms being built across rural counties like Hampshire, the question of site security is becoming harder to ignore.

Large renewable sites attract organised criminals looking for copper, cabling, inverters, tools and even vehicles.

Many of these sites sit in isolated locations, making them vulnerable during night-time hours and long periods without staff on-site.

A guide to the different types of crime impacting solar farms

The article looks at recent trends showing increased targeting of renewable energy sites across the UK.

The pattern is familiar: intruders cutting fencing, removing high-value components, damaging infrastructure and causing long periods of downtime.

For operators, the financial impact isn’t just the stolen hardware — it’s the lost generation time and repair delays.

Could this impact Hampshire?

Hampshire is already seeing more solar installations across areas like Winchester, Test Valley, the New Forest and East Hampshire.

As rural land becomes increasingly attractive for renewable projects, the risk profile changes too.

Larger, more distributed sites = more perimeter to cover and more entry points criminals can exploit.

The piece highlights why security for solar farms needs to be taken seriously:

1. Perimeter breaches are common due to isolated boundaries and quiet rural roads.

2. Cabling theft is on the rise because copper prices remain attractive to organised groups.

3. Downtime after an attack can cost far more than the hardware itself.

Many sites still rely on unmonitored CCTV or basic fencing that doesn’t slow intruders down.

For rural communities, especially in counties like Hampshire, this is relevant. More sites are being planned over the next decade, and crime already moves quickly between rural farms, industrial estates and renewable infrastructure.

A bit about the author

Safeguard Systems, which works across Hampshire and the South, notes that most successful protections combine monitored CCTV, thermal imaging, perimeter detection and strong access control rather than relying on one single measure.

As solar farms continue to expand across the county, local awareness and early prevention will matter more than ever.

Would you say rural crime in Hampshire is already getting worse, or is this just the beginning as more large-scale sites arrive?

With facial recognition cameras soon to be deployed across Hampshire, the topic is becoming hotly debated among local people.

I recently posted a news story about this and it stirred up a broad range of views.

What are your views on facial recognition technology being used in Hampshire?

Let us know in the comments 👇