Landfills and Brownfields

Brownfield and Landfill Solar

When land becomes too contaminated for continued agricultural or industrial development, most landowners treat these plots as dormant, unproductive assets. But if they’re still paying property taxes, those brownfields and landfills aren’t assets – they’re financial liabilities that actually lose the owner money.

However, you can extract hidden value from these plots by turning contaminated areas into productive, revenue-generating landfill and brownfield solar farms. In a state like California that has more than 2 million acres of landfills and brownfields, the monetary potential of this approach is enormous.

According to a 2013 report by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program, landfills are ideally suited for solar power production since they’re often:

• Close to electricity demand, and transmission and distribution line infrastructure
• No longer economically viable for traditional development
• Under land-use restrictions via institutional controls

Brownfield Solar Farm Benefits for the Landowner

Most landowners who transform their unusable tracks into solar farms will simply use the generated electricity to reduce their own monthly utility bills.

The more solar capacity installed, the greater the savings.

But it’s also possible to monetize that sunshine by:

• Selling the energy to local utility providers
• Renting out the land for community, municipal, or large-scale solar PV development
• Generating state renewable energy credits (SRECs) that can be sold on the open market

The environmental benefits of solar farms on brownfield developments are equally impressive.

Many landfills are hotbeds of methane, CO2, and other greenhouse gases. But by transforming wasteland into solar farms, you can help your clients generate significant greenhouse gas reductions for the entire community.

Landfill Solar Development with Nuance Energy

The financial and environmental benefits of landfill solar development are well documented. However, the startup costs can be prohibitively expensive for many landowners. This is especially true given the sheer labor costs required to install significant solar capacity. Moreover, it can take months to bring a solar PV system online after factoring in excavations, ballasts, cement pouring, and permits.

But with Nuance Energy’s revolutionary ground mount solar racking technology, it’s possible to transform a dormant landfill into a fully operational solar farm in a matter of days – not weeks.

Our patented OSPREY PowerRack™ can be engineered using a self-ballasted foundation in combination with our anchor foundation technology. This dynamic combination eliminates many of the cost overruns and delays normally associated with traditional ground mount solar racking solutions:

• A 3-person crew can easily assemble each prefabricated portable solar unit in about
  an hour – without using any heavy machinery.
• In just labor costs alone, clients can save $145k for every 2MW of installed solar
  capacity.
• The Osprey is panel agnostic, meaning it can accept any major solar module type.
• The Osprey is infinitely scalable – whether you install one panel or thousands.
• Unit are wind-tested for up to 170 mph. And we back it with 20 years of warranty
  protection.

The Osprey is easy to disassemble and relocate, making it one of the most portable solar power racking solutions ever designed.