Turning Brownfields into Brightfields
Brownfields and landfills have limited development options and tend to have a high cost of maintenance. As a result, the EPA promotes using brownfields for solar. Landfills and solar PV go together for a variety of reasons and can create benefits for the landowners and local population.
- Land owners receive financial compensation on land that typically has a high cost to maintain.
- Using brownfields for solar preserves open or agricultural space that would otherwise be utilized for solar.
- Solar development can provide job opportunities to rural areas where a landfill is located.
- Landfills generally have existing electrical infrastructure that is suitable for solar development.
- Solar can often be paired with landfill gasification systems without affecting one another.
- The land is often already cleared, making most sites “solar ready”.
Maynard, MA – 1.2 Megawatts (capped landfill) – Lease and PPA
As municipalities and organizations grapple with the rising costs of maintaining landfills and other brownfield sites, owners are turning to alternative ways to help offset those costs. In addition to receiving income from the property itself, some municipalities may also benefit from entering into a Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) to purchase the solar energy. The savings from competitive, long-term energy prices from a solar PPA and the income from the land provide an attractive revenue opportunity to municipalities and organizations that own capped landfills.
The Community Power Group management team has worked with many landfill owners throughout the country including in Massachusetts, Virginia, Colorado, and Illinois.
Washington County, MD – 2.5 Megawatts (capped landfill) – Lease and PPA
The economic, social, and environmental benefits of solar on landfills and brownfields are hard to pass up when faced with the option of maintaining an empty site. Community Power Group is a leading developer for brownfield and landfill solar PV systems. With more than 40MWs of properties developed or in the pipeline, we are ready to work with landfill and brownfield owners determine if a solar farm on their brownfield is a good choice.
The following is a partial listing of other brownfields we have developed:
Hagerstown, MD – 2.5 Megawatts (capped landfill) – Lease and PPA
Washington County, MD – 2.5 Megawatts (capped landfill) – Lease and PPA
Washington County, MD – 2.5 Megawatts (capped landfill) – Lease and PPA
