Sunshine on my shoulders

Solar collection facility

 

Solar energy is being touted as a clean, renewable, and unlimited source of electric power. Deploy solar collectors and voila, electricity from the sun without any fallout from nasty fossil fuels.

It’s not that simple.

At its October 4 meeting, the Goochland Board of Supervisors heard a presentation from Ray Cash, Assistant Director of Community Development, concerning solar collection facilities and batteries used to store that energy. Cash proposed ordinance amendments, which were referred to the planning commission for recommendations. (See October 4 board packet available on the county website goochlandva.us, beginning on page 84 for details.)

 

The Virginia Clean Energy Plan (VCEP), said Cash, mandates that localities provide “by right” solar collection uses, on homes, or for specific on-site purposes. This could include power to operate a well pump to provide clean water for livestock on a farm.

(By right means that a use is allowed without additional permitting.)

A zoning ordinance could allow “by right” solar collection facilities as a surplus for certain farm uses and provide revenue streams for farms in addition to agricultural uses.

These initiatives, said Cash, are driven by the “ambitious” goal of Virginia reaching zero emission power production by 2040 and is spurring an influx of interest in locating solar collection facilities in Goochland.

The VCEP includes energy storage to enable the grid to provide adequate power during times of low sunlight and other disruptions to renewable power generation.

Localities, said Cash, can establish reasonable criteria for these facilities including where they are sited to protect the county’s natural resources and viewshed. Restrictions include limiting noise, mandating setbacks and buffers. Requirements for decommissioning to protect the environment are also permitted.

County ordinances currently address “solar farms” a misnomer, because they do not grow the sun or panels out of the ground.

Solar panels used for onsite consumption, like those on a home, would require changing current ordinance definitions.

The proposed solar energy and storage facility ordinance, said Cash, recommends siting them in areas zoned A-1 and designated as rural enhancement to avoid conflict with economic development. These would be located no closer than two miles apart to avoid massive installations.

The proposed ordinance allows these facilities on contiguous sites between 300 and 1,000 acres. Cash said that options “vary wildly” as to the size of the facility and amount of power generated. The proposed policy would also require site evaluation and allow no more than 20 percent of prime farmland to be used for solar generation.

Goochland, said Cash, requires setbacks of 150 feet from a parcel boundary; 100 feet from roads, and an additional 100 feet from wetlands, streams, and other environmentally sensitive areas. This requirement is more intense than the row of evergreens required by other jurisdictions. A wildlife habitat friendly design requirement could include plants for pollinators and panel clustering to allow wildlife to move through the site.

Localities that allowed deployment of solar panels on large clear cut parcels experienced erosion and runoff issues. As solar panels are non- permeable, their impact on land, if not done with care, could be similar to paving the site.

Construction and decommissioning of these facilities are an important part of regulations. Solar collection is a new industry. Panels have not reached the end of their usable life, so discussion of their removal and disposal of their components are somewhat theoretical. The proposed ordinance requires that facilities no longer in use must have all equipment removed and the soil restored to the condition it was in before the facility was built. Storage and disposal of these panels is an emerging technology.

A suety must be provided to cover the cost of decommissioning. It must be updated every three years to ensure that there are sufficient funds to pay for the clean of the sites after they cease to function.

Energy storage facilities, essentially great big batteries, the size of a shipping container that absorb collected energy and funnel it into the power grid. These, said Cash, would require conditional use permits and tend to be sited near the collection equipment.

Cash said that the interest in placing solar collection facilities in Goochland is high, mostly from entities outside the county.

Some citizens oppose solar collection facilities outright, others enthusiastically embrace them. It’s the Board’s job to craft an ordinance that establishes middle ground, protecting the environment and interests of the citizens.

Farmers could install solar collection facilities on a portion of their land creating a revenue stream to supplement income from agricultural activities, which could allow them to stay on their land rather than sell it to developers.

An amendment to the county’s comprehensive land use plan could limit total solar collection use in Goochland to a percentage of the county’s land area.

Solar power is not all sunshine and lollipops.

D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr. Goochland’s Chief of Fire-Rescue and Emergency Services said that while it takes a lot of water to extinguish a fire at a storage battery facility, it is dangerous to mix electricity and water. Components of the batteries, when exposed to water, could create a hazardous materials, and potentially contaminate ground water.

Ferguson said that fires in electric vehicles caused when they get wet illustrate the issue. Roof-mounted solar panels connected to a home’s power system could also pose a hazard to firefighters if the power cannot be completely disconnected from their storage battery.

In a typical structure fire, the electric company is notified to turn off the power “at the pole” so firefighters can “put the wet stuff on the red stuff” without fear of being electrocuted. County first responders, said Ferguson, are being trained to safely handle fires involving solar power equipment.

No doubt the planning commission will have substantive input on the proposed amendments. This could be on its November 3 agenda.