FAQs

What are the benefits to landowners of entering into a solar lease as opposed to keeping the land in farming use?

“Food production costs were already high. The pandemic snarled supply chains, making it more difficult — and expensive — to get parts and supplies that are vital for growing crops. Then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine took things to another level, sending markets soaring for fertilizers and for the fuels needed to run farm machinery. Inflation is so rampant that even with rising food prices, farmers are facing increasingly tough margins.” Bloomberg, March 19, 2022 

We evaluated alternative cases whereby a farmland owner entered a typical solar lease, the Go Solar Case and compared that against three Status Quo Farm Cases.  This analysis is available on our website.  Key findings include that the Go Solar Case created between 2x to 3+x the economic value for the landowner than any of the Status Quo Farm Cases. 

One need not look past the high corn price year of 2022 to understand the benefit to farmland owners leasing land to solar projects.  Even with spot price of corn (May 25, 22) at $7.22, the December harvest price of corn is expected to be $6.07 less $0.30 basis differential is $5.77/bu in Indiana.   However, costs of goods sold are very high and break-even costs are forecast at around $5.30.  For average productivity soil growing corn, this results in Contribution Margin of $365/acre before cost of machinery, labor or land, and negative -$74 after allowance for these items.  Reference: 2022 Purdue Crop Cost & Return Guide, March 11, 2022, and Managing your farm in a volatile market, Purdue, March 2022. 

Most alarmingly, there is a 25% probability that corn price will be $5.19 before basis differential at harvest time. 

In any possible scenario, a $850/acre solar lease is significantly greater than historical farm cash rent or net return to land even on high productivity Indiana farmland, much less the more typical average productivity land. For more information see: https://ag.purdue.edu/commercialag/home/

How many of these large, utility scale project should we expect to see in our county?

The primary constraint to solar development in Indiana is the availability of capacity on the high voltage transmission lines. These lines were designed to connect large point sources of generation to large areas of load – big power plants to big cities and industrial users. Now, many different distributed solar projects are all competing for limited space on the transmission grid. 

How long does it take to build a solar farm?

The length of construction depends on the size of the farm and preparation and development requirements. We anticipate a 12–24-month development period, followed by one to two years of construction depending on the size of the project. 

What pollutants come from the solar panels during their lifetime?

Solar panels do not generate pollutants during their operational life.  Most solar developments utilize monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, which account for over 90% of solar PV panels installed today. These panels use a crystalline lattice of silicon atoms to convert sunlight into electricity. Silicon is the second-most abundant material on Earth (after oxygen) and the most common semiconductor material used in computer chips. It is nontoxic and does not pose a risk to public health or safety. The metal substrate is often composed of aluminum, which is nontoxic and recyclable.  When a project is decommissioned, panels can be recycled as well as be disposed of in landfills designated for this type of material. 

In addition to not being a source of pollutants, solar farm developments significantly reduce soil erosion as described above.  Some materials in soils have higher levels of phosphorus essentially attached to the soil particles due to fertilizer applications. When these soil materials erode, the phosphorus is transported into ditches, rivers and lakes, contributing to water quality degradation and increasing nuisance algae levels. Reducing erosion, reduces transport of soil nutrients to our waterways and lakes improving downstream water quality. 

How are invasive plant species managed during project life?

Vegetation at a solar farm is managed to maintain the target plant community and to minimize shading of the panels by colonizing shrub and tree species.  Vegetation maintenance can include targeting significant areas of invasive species. Managing invasive species is an adaptive approach.  

The precise method of management depends on the type(s) and abundance of invasive species that might establish. Common methods to manage invasive species include hand pulling, hand cutting, mowing, string trimming, and herbicide applications. Herbicide applications are usually limited to the extent practical to avoid potential effects to pollinators. 

The annual herbicide treatments applied to corn and soybean fields will not be applied to solar farm fields.  At a rate of one pint of 2,4 D per acre to control broad leave weeds every spring over a 30-year project, 2,625 gallons of 2,4 D would not be applied to the land.  At a rate of one 24 ounces of roundup per acre to control weeds every spring over a 30-year project, 492 less gallons of roundup would not be applied to the land under the solar use vs. the current agricultural use.   

What happens to the land as the site is decommissioned and put back into farm use?

At the end of the life of the solar project it is decommissioned.  The decommission process removes the electronic equipment such as inverters and transformers and the equipment pads from the project parcels.  The photoelectric panels are removed from the racking systems and the racking systems deconstructed.  The racking system foundations are then removed from the ground.  This is accomplished by pulling the foundations directly out of the ground.  Gravel access roadways are removed. The soils are not damaged by the decommissioning.  

In a typical solar utility scale solar project (100 MW) there are 550 tons of copper (CDA 2022) and 3,500 tons of steel (Arcelor Mittal 2021).  Upon decommissioning of the project after the anticipated 30-year lifespan, the copper and steel will be recycled.  Abandoning a 2 MW system estimated costs was approximately $60,000.  Scaling up from that, the estimate cost for a 100 MW system would be $6 M.  A consultant estimate for abandonment of a 150 MW system in southern Indiana was approximately $8 M (SCS, 2021).  Adjusting that to a 100 MW system, the estimated cost would be approximately $5.3 MM per 100 MW of solar project. Our Hoosier projects will retain the services of an independent engineer that will estimate the cost of the project’s removal and the value of the steel removed.  The Project will post a bond for this amount to ensure the removal of the project. 

At the conclusion of the decommissioning process, the project site will be flat, have better drainage, rejuvenated soils, and improved roads should the landowner desire to not remove roads installed that its pre-solar use condition. 

What happens to the soil as the site is decommissioned and put back into farm use?

Soils are dynamic that develop over time, constantly changing as they build organic matter in the topsoil and modify soil mineral matter that then moves through the soil profile. Growing a healthy soil takes time. One of the most significant factors degrading soils is erosion, which removes soil materials that have developed in uppermost layer. The effects of soil erosion on a field in row crop production alternating years of soybeans and corn can be compared to a solar farm using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (University of Purdue, 2008). Comparing the same field under different management alternatives can be evaluated using the variable in the equation that accounts for tillage and cropping system used on the field. The other factors in would remain the same in the comparison because factors such as rain, soil series characteristics, field slope, and slope length remain the same. The tillage and cropping system factor for a field in permanent pasture, which can be considered characteristic of a solar farm, is 0.005. The tillage and cropping system factor for a field in a corn soy rotation for a no-till field is 0.05. The corn soy rotation field planted with no-till methods would have 10 times the erosion of the same field in a solar farm. The tillage and cropping system factor for a field in a corn soy rotation for moldboard plow in spring is 0.35. The corn soy rotation field plowed with a moldboard would have 70 times the erosion of the same field in a solar farm. Solar farm fields have significantly less erosion than those same fields in corn soy rotation, on the order of one tenth to one less than one fiftieth the erosion.

Developing a field previously in a corn soy rotation into a solar farm greatly reduces the rate of soil erosion allowing natural soil forming process to resume and increases the rate of soil development to the benefit of local health. Natural processes improve the soil resulting in a better soil for future agricultural production.

What happens to drainage during construction and operating life?

The civil construction of our projects is heavily regulated.  Our projects must comply with Federal, Indiana and local laws regarding wetlands waterways, stormwater runoff and drainage.  For most of our projects, we will apply for a US Army Corps of Engineering Clean Water Certificate under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and State water quality certification under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act for any work in wetlands or waterways.  The rainfall runoff and soil erosion from construction of the solar fields will be permitted and reviewed. All construction stormwater permits are processed through the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) via the Construction Stormwater General Permit (CSGP).  A storm water construction plan will be developed for our projects site per the Indiana Storm Water Quality Manual and local requirements. The construction plans will include an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (ESCP) and a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP).  During construction, topsoil is removed per design, segregated, and reapplied prior to the completion of construction. Additionally, the Grading Plan will need to be approved by the County as part of receiving the building permits.  

Project designers evaluate the level of runoff generated during construction and whether the area of unvegetated disturbed ground would require management techniques to control erosion and transport of soils at unacceptable levels.  Should soil erosion and sediment transport require mitigative measures, standard erosion and sediment control measures would be specified in the project design and implemented during construction.   

We are investing approximately $200,000/acre of equipment – we need to keep it dry and on foundations whose soil is not eroding. 

During the operational life of a solar farm in Indiana, the spaces between the rows and under the solar panels would be vegetated.  In general, the vegetation between the rows of solar panels is sufficient to slow the flow of runoff to acceptable rates such that additional control measures are not required.