How Valuable is your Land?
Your Land is more valuable if it is less than 5 degrees of slope, clear of trees, free of ponds, and bordered by a road.
Solar Developers will only build solar farms in regions with a demand for solar energy.
The value of your Land hinges on the highest revenue-generating use of your Land.
Understand the difference between Solar Communities, Solar Large Scale Utility Farms, and Agrivoltaic Solar Farms.
Solar Community
The idea of community solar has taken off in recent years as more homeowners have realized that they can go solar without putting solar panels on their own physical roof. A community solar project—sometimes called a “solar garden” or roofless solar —is a solar power plant with electricity shared by more than one household. In most cases, a community solar array is a large ground mount installation that spans one or many acres.
Utility -Scale Solar ale Utility Farm
“Utility-scale solar,” “large-scale solar,” and “solar farms” are different terms that describe a solar power facility that generates enough electricity to serve many customers, as opposed to a single home or business. These facilities are typically located on open land near an existing substation or electric transmission infrastructure. Five to seven acres of land are used for every megawatt solar power capacity. A solar developer will seek to contract for additional land to provide more flexibility in laying out the arrays, routing interconnection corridors, and meeting state requirements for alternative siting options. All local governments located in a project’s footprint are involved in reviewing zoning for these projects. Permits for the land to be used for large solar energy generation projects are evaluated by local township boards and the county board(s). This is typically accomplished through a Conditional Use Permitting process.
Agrivoltaics
Agrivoltaics is the practice of growing crops underneath solar panels by using the land for both agriculture and solar photovoltaic energy generation. It's also sometimes referred to as agrisolar, dual-use, low-impact solar.