Many communities have concerns about the effects of solar development on their land. Farmers and ranchers know their land like the back of their hand, and when they want to diversify their operation with solar, we trust them to pursue these projects with the health of the land in mind.
Utility-scale solar turns large plots of land—often marginal farmland—into long-term energy producers with a relatively light footprint. Unlike permanent industrial sites, solar panels sit on racks that leave the soil largely undisturbed, allowing for dual-use options like “agrivoltaics,” where sheep graze, or native plants grow between the rows. This setup provides landowners with a steady, drought-proof income that is often more reliable than traditional crop cycles, all while supporting local biodiversity.
At the end of a typical 25-year lease, the land remains a versatile asset because the infrastructure is modular and mostly sits above ground. The landowner has the flexibility to have the equipment removed to restore the land for farming, or they can negotiate to keep the infrastructure in place to continue generating power or repurpose the site. Because the soil hasn’t been treated with heavy fertilizers or chemicals during the project’s life, it effectively “rests,” preserving or even improving its long-term agricultural value.
Whether the owner chooses to decommission the site to return to traditional crops or extend the lease for continued production, they maintain full control over the property’s future. This makes solar a low-risk, reversible land use that offers a guaranteed revenue stream.
For more information on solar projects in Virginia and in your locality, please visit the Virginia Solar and Storage Database put together by the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. The database provides an inventory of large-scale solar projects and battery energy storage systems proposed for siting approval at the local level in Virginia.
Utility-scale solar plants are large-scale power stations that use thousands of solar panels to generate electricity for the entire community. These projects are usually built on large, flat tracts of land where the panels are mounted on motorized racks that tilt to follow the sun from morning to night. The energy starts as DC power, which is converted to AC power by machines called inverters. This electricity is then sent through a substation to increase its voltage so it can travel long distances over high-voltage power lines.
Building these plants is a huge undertaking that starts with years of planning and environmental studies. Developers must get permission from local governments for land use and from state or federal agencies to ensure they aren’t harming local wildlife or water sources. They also need a special agreement with the power grid to prove they can safely plug in without causing blackouts. Once the permits are in hand, crews drive steel posts into the ground, snap the panels into place, and wire everything together to start feeding power
to the grid.
This video comes from the American Solar Grazers Association and highlights Marcus and Jess Gray of Gray's Lambscaping, a Virginia-based company using sheep grazing for vegetation management at local solar facilities.
Utility-scale solar economics are defined by high upfront capital costs balanced against near-zero operating expenses. Because the “fuel” (sunlight) is free, the financial success of a project depends on the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)—the total cost of building,maintaining, and operating a power plant per megawatt generated. It allows developers, planners, and government officials to see direct comparisons with other power-generating technologies. To secure funding, developers typically sign Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), long-term contracts that guarantee a fixed price for electricity, providing the steady cash flow needed to repay investors and lenders.
Efficiency and economies of scale are the primary drivers of profitability today. As solar hardware becomes more efficient and cheaper to manufacture, the cost per megawatt-hour continues to drop, often making it the least expensive source of new electricity on the market. These cost improvements allow developers to compete directly with traditional fossil fuel plants on a purely commercial basis, offering a low-risk, low-maintenance alternative for meeting growing global energy demand.
Energy Right has published a set of ordinance standards to help make solar projects the best neighbors possible. Sufficient but not superfluous ordinance language strikes the right balance between meaningful standards, property rights, and energy needs. These requirements will allow for good projects to come forward and be the best neighbors possible for rural Virginia.
Setbacks of 50-100 ft off of a property line to a fence line are a common-sense measure to help maintain the rural character of our land, and also to make these projects the best neighbor possible for our communities.
Adding additional setbacks when a project parcel is close to a neighbor’s home is an important factor to ensuring the community can continue to enjoy their “slice of heaven” in rural Virginia.
Within setbacks, planted buffers, or supplementing existing natural vegetation buffers, of 25-50 ft surrounding the project help ensure that solar projects are shielded from view from neighbors and passersby.
Proposed projects should submit thorough decommissioning plans to ensure that project land is returned to its original state or better when the life of a project ends. Money set aside up front to pay for decommissioning, financial surety, should account for inflation, administrative costs, as well as the salvage value of project materials.
Genuine outreach in the communities where a project is proposed is imperative. Speaking with and gathering input from neighboring landowners, county leaders, and community groups will result in the best project possible for the whole community. In addition to individual outreach, at least one community meeting should be held prior to any official public hearings with neighbors invited.
Project proposals should include commitments to include native grasses and/or pollinator species to bees, butterflies, and local farms with pollination. Where solar grazing is considered, seed mixes should be vetted with grazers.
Setbacks of 25 – 50 ft from designated wetlands limits the impact to these important areas, and can help preserve them in perpetuity.
Whenever possible, topsoil should remain undisturbed and should always remain on site to help in the growth of ground cover.
Erosion and sediment control plans should be submitted and abided by to prevent erosion and excess runoff, which can adversely affect neighbors and waterways.
Whenever possible, developers and Engineering, Procurement, and Construction companies (EPCs) should aim to source goods and services as local to the project site as possible. The true economic benefits come from spending dollars with local businesses, magnifying the investment.
If traffic and road maintenance concerns are brought by neighbors or local leaders, projects should include plans to mitigate traffic and impacts on roads.
Solar projects can and should be great economic drivers in rural Virginia. Entering into revenue sharing agreements or siting agreements is a great way to bring in new tax revenue without additional demand on public services. This tax revenue can help lower taxes on citizens or fund road repairs, infrastructure, schools, or first responders.
Many studies have shown that large scale solar farms do not have a negative impact on property values to adjacent landowners. There has been no evidence of an impact to the sale of agricultural or residential property adjacent to large scale solar farms.
“By weight, most solar panels are around 80 percent glass and aluminum which are easy components to recycle at general-purpose recycling centers. Solar panels also contain at least one rare or precious metal which may be recycled at the end of its useful life. Metal racking, framing, copper wire, and other equipment may offer scrap value that can offset decommissioning costs.” – CCEBA Solar Decommissioning Fact Sheet
There are no studies indicating negative health impacts from a solar project site. The compounds within solar panels – Cadmium Telluride, Silicon, and others – do not leech (or escape/leak) from panels even during extreme weather conditions that damage panels (see Virginia Tech study). Materials inside a solar panel are solid and fully encapsulated in tempered glass.
Research indicates that any heat around or immediately above a solar project quickly dissipates. With the temperature dropping after sunset, it is very unlikely a heat island could occur as the system completely cools overnight. Solar panels operate more efficiently at lower temperatures, and it is in the best interest of solar project owners to keep temperatures lower with vegetative ground cover.
