JOHN MORETON, the serial entrepreneur, hopes to become one of Britain's biggest solar electricity investors - in spite of the government's review of incentives for large-scale green energy producers.  Moreton, 66, is best known for establishing and selling care home businesses, including Southern Cross. He netted about ?25m when the company was sold in 2002.  He trained as an electrical engineer and made his first fortune on the back of Britain's conversion to North Sea gas in the 1960s. JM Gas, which he set up when he was 21, converted home appliances to natural gas.  Moreton is also Britain's largest walnut farmer, with a 1,000-acre farm in the Meon valley, Hampshire, where he lives with his second wife, Karen, 44.  He has had high-profile backers, including Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, and Oliver Stone, the Hollywood director, who have both put money into his software venture Global Data Centre Management.  Moreton has eight children: alexander, 29, and Philip, 26, with his first wife, and Niamh, 13, triplets Daniel, Luke and Jessica, 9, and Bethany, 8 and Olivia, 6 .  How much money do you have in your wallet? about ?120. I don't usually keep a lot more than that. I prefer to use my debit card.  What credit cards do you use? I have an invitation-only american Express Centurion, which is made of titanium and costs ?1,800 a year. It's worth it, though. It offers good deals on flights and hotels.  are you a saver or a spender? I've saved a lot more than I've spent over the years, but I do enjoy spending. People who say they don't like to spend just haven't found the right shops.  I remained in cash following the credit crunch, but in the past year or so I've been investing in new companies. I recently founded MO3 Power, a renewable energy firm that sets up large-scale solar panels. Each of the systems will produce electricity for about 300 homes.  We have projects near Usk in South Wales, Whimple, near Exeter, and eight other locations in Britain. We're hoping to benefit from the government's feed-in tariffs.  Isn't there a review of these tariffs? Yes, but I'm sure the government will understand the advantages of solar over, say, wind and continue the payments. Solar generators last longer and are less of a blight on the landscape. Over the long term, it is a better way to achieve the government's goals to reduce carbon emissions.  also, if a system is set up and plugged into the grid by summer 2012, the rates are guaranteed and index-linked for 25 years. We're hoping to have our projects up and running by then.  My initial investment was just over ?3m, but there is a lot of interest from international businesses - despite the government's review - with the potential for ?1 billion of investment overall.  How much did you earn last year? Because I was investing, the main source of income was the farm. It returned a six-figure sum. I use 400 acres for wheat and 600 for walnut trees. I've just planted another 80 trees - an old English variety called Northdown clawnut, which grows to about 18-25 metres.  I expect to rely on the farm for another couple of years as my investments mature. Why farming? agriculture is making a comeback in Britain. about four years ago I could get ?50 for a tonne of wheat. I'm getting more like ?200 a tonne now.  It's mainly because of demand from emerging markets. also, climate change is having an adverse effect on traditional wheat- and walnutgrowing countries, such as China and australia, while it is benefiting growers here.  Have you ever been really hard up? Only as a child. I remember getting up with my father at about 4.30am on a Sunday to go to Petticoat Lane market in east London to sell bits and pieces that he'd collected. We would sit in front of the entrance of a synagogue because it wasn't open on Sundays.  We'd make ?2 or ?3 over the day - perhaps ?200 to ?300 today. It really helped over Christmas.  What property do you own? The farmhouse goes back to Roman times, and we have Saxon burial grounds on the land. It has eight bedrooms. I've had it for nine years and it cost ?6m, including the land.  I also have a property in New Zealand, which I've owned for the past 10 years. It's in Tauranga, on the other side of the South Island from Christchurch, so there wasn't any damage from the recent earthquake. It has six bedrooms.  My father moved to New Zealand in 1973 and I plan to retire there too.  What was your first job? I started cutting hedges when I was nine. I'd get anything up to five shillings a hedge.  What has been your most lucrative work and did you buy anything special with the money? Setting up JM Gas. I raised about ?3,000 from an uncle and ended up employing 70 people.