The panels, added to a property on his 63,000-acre Inverinate estate in Wester Ross, overlook Loch Duich, a protected conservation area home to deer, otters, and rare bats. His team is now seeking retrospective approval, alongside plans for a new staff room and road.

A design statement said the panels would “enhance sustainability” while causing “minimal visual impact.”

The 74-year-old, who visits Scotland once or twice a year, has expanded the estate over the past two decades, recently winning permission for a tenth property. Locals have questioned the scale of ongoing building work, given the estate is rarely used.

In 2020, he overturned a council refusal for a lodge after a Scottish Government appeal, on condition he contributed £30,000 to local affordable housing.

Sheikh Mohammed, worth an estimated £11bn, also owns vast estates in England and built the world’s largest single-site solar park in Dubai. His representatives say the changes are “necessary and beneficial” and have asked Highland Council to approve them.