Solar Farms

Below are some of the issues that a solar farm developer needs to consider when selecting a site.

Quality of terrain

Sloped land, excessively rocky or sandy terrain, uneven land etc can all significantly add to the cost of installing a solar farm.

Local weathering factors

Desert conditions often coincide with excessive dust fall, flooding and flash flooding, high erosion etc, and these can limit the viability of a site and in many cases can make a site non-viable.

Proximity to High Transmission Capacity Lines

One of the biggest hidden costs of a solar farm is the distance required to connect a system to high voltage lines capable of carrying the excess production.  The costs of even a few extra kilometers can completely destroy the profitability of a solar farm.

Conservation and Environmental Impact Issues

Large tracts of undeveloped land too often coincide with sensitive or protected areas or protected species.  Often the presence of a single protected species of plant or animal can halt or completely alter the development plans for a solar farm, and for example in California, the evidence of single endangered burrowing owl halted the development of a solar farm project worth hundreds of millions.

Agricultural Concerns

Most government agencies responsible for agriculture do not want to see farmers paving over their fields with solar panels.  Especially in Canada and Southern Europe, available land near electrical demand centers is usually agricultural land – this will turn into a bigger and bigger issue as time goes on.

Local Regulations and Ownership

It is surprising the number of issues that can arise, even in a friendly regulatory framework.  Objections from the military over concerns with reflections interfering with pilot’s vision or ground construction causing problems with radar installations, construction permits and agricultural land limits on depth of holes allowed on a site are examples of regulations that can effect a site.  This has been a consistent issue with site selection for solar farms everywhere.  Further, although this depends on local factors, land ownership of the solar farm land itself, or the right of way required for construction access and/or connection to high voltage transmission can severely complicate factors, especially when previously “worthless” land is suddenly perceived as valuable.

Smaller Solar Farms Save other Costs

Panel and land costs are not the only costs to consider – installation costs, cabling and O&M are all less costly in smaller solar farms.  As the scale gets bigger, this becomes more significant.

It is important to determine the effects of lighting for the area of the solar farm and that appropriate precautions are taken when required.

Solar Farm - Example

The following site has been allocated for the construction of a solar farm

 

• Land size is 6.01 Hectares or 60,000 sq metres
• Potential power generation 3,549.44 kWp

Location Specifics

• Mean Sea Level 1525m
• 25.79⁰ southern latitude
• Shading Angle 40.7⁰

 

Phase 2

	Type 18 – 161 pcs.
	Type 10 – 146 pcs.

Phase 1

	Type 18 – 397 pcs.
	Type 10 – 360 pcs.

Combined

	Type 18 – 558 pcs.
	Type 10 – 506 pcs.

The flexibility of the ground fixing system demonstrates the ability to deal with uneven terrain and still achieve the require tilt