#MEwx some sun and clouds with Community solar farms v. Commercial solar farms
I have an Ambient WS 5000 weather station broadcasting here where you can view real time weather readings from it by clicking here.
This morning we have mostly sunny skies with a chance of snow showers this afternoon. Highs in the mid 40s. Winds are light and variable.
Tonight we’ll have snow with a slight chance of rain during evening hours. Rain after midnight with snow accumulation around an inch. Lows in the lower 30s with light and variable winds, becoming southeast around 10 mph after midnight.
We didn’t receive any rain or snow here over the past 24 hours.
The wind is West between 3.8 MPH and 5.6 MPH. Our peak wind gust since midnight is 34 MPH.
The Relative pressure is 30.06, the Absolute pressure is 29.86 and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun and clouds.
Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers with partly cloudy skies.
The UV index is 0 placing the average person at no risk and the solar radiation reading is 105.5W/m2. Sunrise is 6:24 AM, sunset is 7:05 PM, moonrise is 1:15 PM and Moonset is 4:22 AM. The moon is waxing crescent and is 69% illuminated. We’ll have 12 hours 42 minutes of daylight today. The next Full Moon is on April 6 with our next new moon being on April 20, 2023 .
You’ve probably heard about the new and fast-growing industry of “Solar Farms” and that there are at least two kinds of them out there. . the “community solar farm” and the “commercial solar farm.”
So, what’s the difference between them? As with most things, the answer is “that depends”. Whether you want one on youor land or building or don’t like tham at all you should get some facts about them under your belt before you speak out.
In terms that are easiest to understand for non-experts like me and many of you the differences are these.
A “community solar farm” is a series of solar panels from a solar company that a land or building owner has agreed to have on their land or building that will gather electricity that gets put into the grid for consumers to subscribe to.
IF you want to “subscribe” to a community solar farm you buy a subscription from the solar panel company (not the land or building owner) that gets you a credit or discount on your power bill each month. IF you live in town or rent an apartment, this might be a good idea for you.
Note: If you are the landowner or building owner who agrees to let a solar company put a community solar farm on his/her land or building, you DO NOT get money for agreeing to host it. You are, however, invited to purchase a subscription. Also, your land or building is encumbered to the solar farm company for the duration of the contract. What kind of encumbrances you will be under depends upon the contract you negotiate with them.
So, you host the community solar farm on your land and your compensation is knowing that you’re helping the environment and others get a lower electric bill. The solar company is the one who makes the money.
A commercial solar farm is much different. A solar company who wants to put a farm on your land will negotiate a contract with you (usually called a lease agreement) to put a solar farm on the solar suitable portions of your land, meaning what is suitable for them to put a large array of panels on. They then sell the power to the power company that they have entered into an agreement with.
In this situation YOU DO RECEIVE a monthly check for the amount you have negotiated with the solar company.
So yes, with one of these commercial outfits you get money for hosting the solar farm on your land. I’m not sure they do this sort of thing on buildings or not, for the most part it’s going to be land rather than buildings simply because they can get more panels on land than they can on a building.
Yes, your land will be encumbered for the duration of the contract/lease agreement, but you get money for letting them put the farm there.
Regardless what variety of solar farm you wish to engage in there are a few things you need to keep in the back of your mind before you talk to solar farm outfits.
First and foremost, check them out. Yep, there’s con artists in this industry just like everywhere else, so go the money and get a law firm THAT HAS EXPERIENCE with solar farms to check them out. DO NOT do it yourself.
Next, keep the following in mind when you talk to them about the farm going on your land or building.
Make sure the solar company is responsible for the security and maintenance of the farm once it’s in, and not you. Make sure they will remove the equipment when the contract/lease period is over with and that they will return the land to the way it was when they first came onto it.
Make sure they are responsible for any and all permits, licenses and toxic hazard cleanups if they occur. Also make sure they will be in attendance for any and all town meetings and public hearings about the proposed farm.
Most important, make sure that any increase in your property taxes is picked up by the company and not you, including any court or administrative matters that may come up because it is on your land or building.
The very best advice I can give you is to get a lawyer who knows what he or she is doing in the Solar Farm biz and take their advice.
A warning for you here – there are outfits who advertise that they will be glad to handle all of the negotiations and will monitor a solar farm company for you. My advice to you is not to do it. Stick with an experienced lawyer’s office. Their job is to keep your best interest on top of their list. Those “we’ll handle it for you” outfits have THEIR best interest at heart, not yours, and trust me, their interest is making money off of you and the solar farm.
One other thing you need to keep in the back of your mind with any kind of solar installation on your land or building is the societal reaction to it being there.
Remember, I’m talking about solar farms here, not a rooftop array on your home to reduce your own household electric bill – Some people just plain don’t like solar farms and they won’t hesitate to tell you so. You may have to deal with them, so keep that in mind.
What I’ve found is that people who don’t like solar farms also tend to not like wind farms, nuclear power plants or hydroelectric dams on rivers.
Okay, that’s a valid point, but since we all know we’re in a very big power crunch with the price of fuel going up ever higher, what’s their solution to the problem?
Wind turbines for wind farms or personal use are a whole different topic as are the solar panels that you may wish to have on your house or garage for home use.
Trust me, that’s a city or municipal mine field that I’ll get into in another post.
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