A recently completed array in Carroll County
In February of 2021, Montgomery County passed a ZTA 20-01 that balances solar generation with large scale solar generation on farms in the Ag Reserve by siting solar on less productive soil in the Reserve and away from stream buffers and steep slopes. (Thinking about Solar on your farm? Join us for a webinar.) Yet still we hear that this balanced approach amounts to a moratorium that stymies progress toward carbon reduction goals.
The growing consensus is that a sole focus on open "undeveloped" lands for renewable energy generation gobbles up another dwindling climate solution resource- farm and forest land. As multiple reports from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation have highlighted farms and forests are short sighted places to site solar projects. CBF has released guide for large scale renewable energy generation siting called Principles and Practices for Realizing the Necessity and Promise of Solar Power the guide calls for prioritizing marginal lands before viable farmland and forests.
The growing consensus is that a sole focus on open "undeveloped" lands for renewable energy generation gobbles up another dwindling climate solution resource- farm and forest land. As multiple reports from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation have highlighted farms and forests are short sighted places to site solar projects. CBF has released guide for large scale renewable energy generation siting called Principles and Practices for Realizing the Necessity and Promise of Solar Power the guide calls for prioritizing marginal lands before viable farmland and forests.
More and more projects are finding ways to overcome the oft cited obstacles to large scale solar on roofs and contaminated lands.
Parking lots, for example, are being retrofitted with solar canopies, conveying multiple benefits including reducing the heat island effect in the urban areas where large parking lots are often found.
An 8MW parking lot array at Rutgers University in NJ
The article from the Yale School of the Environment quotes a study that finds the typical 5 acre parking lot at a Walmart can host a 3 MW array to power the store and cars parking there or surrounding homes. WAMATA has recently partnered to build this sort of canopy at 4 metro stations.
Also close to home, there is the Montgomery County Oaks landfill project - the largest all low income community solar project in the Country and Caroll County's ginormous warehouse rooftop project that the Secretary of the MD Energy Association praised for "protecting our farmlands."
While there is promise in "Agrivoltaics" where pollinator feed and even vegetables are grown under panels - farmers need more certainty about this new field before literally betting the farm on a technology that may occupy a field for over 25 years. Thankfully, a pilot program is ongoing in the Reserve in partnership with UMD.
There is no doubt that we need to transfer our grid to renewable energy - but a holistic approach to how our de-carbonization goals are achieved is the smarter long term solution.
MCA took a lead role on balancing solar generation with farmland and forests in Montgomery County. Our advocacy continues as we connect residents with the resources they need to install solar. Our award winning advocacy and local focus rely on local support. We would be honored by your tax-deductible end of year gift.
