On-Demand Training:
Navigating Solar Siting

The Inflation Reduction Act precipitated tremendous growth in the Renewable Energy sector. The key to successful solar farm development is securing the best sites. Negotiation with landowners requires education of the development process – option, lease, installation, and decommissioning phases. A nurturing relationship must be established to proactively address concerns regarding the legal and financial aspects of leasing their land for a solar farm. This session will address common landowner questions, legal and financial hurdles encountered, and a short case study.

This presentation will include an overview of AC Power and the redevelopment of brownfields through solar energy generation. AC Power will discuss key factors when considering a brownfield site for solar. The presentation will begin by covering siting analysis, including:

• The benefits and hurdles of redeveloping brownfields for solar
• Environmental Regulation behind developing solar projects on brownfields
• Topography and Natural Resources that can make or break a project
• Zoning and land use regulations for solar farms
• Interconnection and the developer-utilities relationship

Financial considerations after the initial presentation, AC Power’s general counsel will bring the legal perspective on the operations and discuss:

• The ITC brownfield adder
• Legal and financial considerations in land acquisition
• Environmental insurance for projects
• Engaging with potentially responsible parties

This presentation will cover topics nFront Consulting considers when performing a utility-scale solar siting study for a client including the following:

• Supply – demand balance
• Oversupply issues
  • Duck curve/canyon curve
• Power purchase agreement overview
• Historical pricing review (energy/capacity)
  • Impacts of solar penetration on Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC) with and without batteries
  • Capacity risks (penalties)
• Queue Overview
  • Status of the queue and current delays
  • Cost to interconnect
  • Shared interconnection
• Transmission limitations
• Co-locate battery considerations
• PTC vs. ITC
• Security constrain economics dispatch
  • Discussion on congestion, basis, curtailment

This presentation will introduce, and detail common strategies and considerations leveraged by design and simulation software utilized to evaluate solar development sites on a wide range of project considerations.

• Land siting considerations
  • Proximity to adequate grid infrastructure
  • Suitable geography
    • Topography, wetlands, flood zones, woodlands, etc.
  • Land acquisition costs
  • RTO and ISO limitations
• Software Platforms
  • Helioscope
  • System Advisory Model (SAM)
  • PV Syst
  • PV Case
  • Solesca
• Design Considerations
  • Interconnection methodology
  • Central vs. String inverters
  • Fixed tilt vs. single-axis tracker racking
    • Tilt angle, tracker drive type, GCR (row spacing), etc.
  • Mono vs. bifacial modules
  • Optimizing O&M
  • Futureproofing electrical
• Simulation Variables
  • Weather data source
    • Publicly available
    • Premium paid data (SolarAnywhere)
  • Soiling & shading scenes
  • Equipment selection/performance
• Presenting Findings
  • Identify simulation iterations
  • Present design considerations and reasoning
  • Identify potential issues or items that require further analysis

Community (or other stakeholder) opposition to solar projects slows needed deployment of large-scale solar projects. Or, is it the solar development business model that needs to change? This session will consider solar siting from the perspective of building social license: gaining community or regulator acceptance by mitigating community-perceived risks, responding to community priorities, creating local co-benefits, and offering decision-makers the portfolio of tools to enable a “yes”.

• Understanding the comprehensive or master plan
• Low impact siting considerations
• Strategic mitigation
• Cultural ecosystem services
  • Economic base
  • Recreation
  • Community character
• Community benefits agreements

Many utility-scale wind and solar projects face local opposition. Even environmental groups sometimes challenge projects because of their effects on birds, scenic views, and other factors. The Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI) was formed to provide pro bono legal assistance to community groups that favor utility-scale projects that are facing local opposite. This talk will discuss the “tradeoff denial” that is involved in some of this opposition; the activities of RELDI, and the statistics it has gathered in local opposition; and some possible federal and state legislation that could address the problem.

Renewable energy projects have tremendous potential to fuel economic growth and deliver benefits to communities across the country. Unfortunately, without meaningful community engagement, those opportunities can easily be lost thanks to natural NIMBY tendencies, online misinformation, and developer missteps. This session will address best practices for authentic engagement with community stakeholders and examine effective tools and tactics that can be used to build on-the-ground support for renewable energy projects through traditional organizing, supporter mobilization, and storytelling.