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Does anyone in these comments have any tips for would-be solar farmers or people who are generally interested in being part of building out the future of our gr

by devin 7mo ago

Does anyone in these comments have any tips for would-be solar farmers or people who are generally interested in being part of building out the future of our grid? I'd like to get my hands dirty. I'm talking about getting into 5-10 MW projects, not solar on a roof.

chasd00 7mo ago
I bookmarked this thread because i'm very interested too. If AI takes all teh corporate jobs then I'm going to be a photon farmer. you can get land down in Brewster County Texas for about $1,500/acre but would need to find a spot close to a grid access point. There's some decent reddit discussions on this sort of thing.
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
nerdralph 7mo ago
Don't start with a 5MW project. Start with a 10-20kW ground-mount project in your back yard. Then build a 100-200kW project before trying MW.
- triceratops 7mo ago
  Is there a big overlap in experience building a 5MW project and a 10-20kw project? The former would involve, I imagine, more of a project manager, fund-raiser, and general contractor role for GP. The latter can be a DIY effort if they are handy and licensed. There's no way anyone is single-handedly installing the panels and inverters for a 5MW project in a reasonable timeframe. Even the hardware, land acquisition, and permitting stories would be different, right?
  - triceratops 7mo ago
    No idea why that question was considered downvote-worthy.
- jandrese 7mo ago
  I think the hardest part of building a solar farm is the permitting. Many municipalities are hostile to the idea of converting farmland into solar fields, even with agrovoltaics. There are special interest groups that may come in and try to derail your project by propagandizing the local community against it. "But what will we eat?" is a propaganda point that you will hear a lot even though it's totally bogus. If I were doing this I'd be looking for a partner that is already in the business. The politics are a lot more complicated than the technology. It would be very easy to get screwed over if you don't know which palms to grease.
  - toomuchtodo 7mo ago
    In many states, state law overrides local planning's ability to prevent siting renewables. Check if your state is one of these states if your project size requires it. > "But what will we eat?" is a propaganda point that you will hear a lot even though it's totally bogus. Indeed. The US farms almost 60 million acres for biofuels, the size of the state of Oregon. These arguments do not come from serious people imho. People are simply married to their rural identity and ag cosplay, despite it being wildly inefficient and subsidized by the federal government. https://kaufman.substack.com/p/at-least-31-states-consider-overhauling https://kaufman.substack.com/p/at-least-31-states-consider-o... https://cleantomorrow.org/reports/ https://cleantomorrow.org/reports/ (have installed 100kw+ in residential solar, and have experience following along for a ~100MW project)
  - eucyclos 7mo ago
    That's probably why it's best to stay small. If you've gotten permits for 10kw project in a backyard or on a Walmart roof, you'll probably have a leg up when you start playing at a scale that brings out the nimbys.
    - pjc50 7mo ago
      This depends; my UK 3.9kWh installation was permit-exempt, requiring only an MCS certified installer so I could be eligible for feed-in tariffs. The permit regime changes as the schemes get larger.
- devin 7mo ago
  Why? Like, I can think of obvious reasons, but what are you trying to say someone will learn from this stepping?
pjc50 7mo ago
Trying to cost this out (in a UK context), I found very few press releases give actual cost numbers. This was rather cute though: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/news/you-can-hear-the-birds-inside-the-community-owned-solar-f-324773/ https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/news/you-can-hear... "took over a 5MW site in Bobbing, near Sittingbourne, in December 2023 after raising £176,100 of investments through a crowdfunding campaign" That is for taking it over from a previous operator, and seems extremely low. More recognizable £1.5k/kW numbers give about £7.5m for that. So unless you're independently wealthy then finance is going to be your #1 consideration. It might actually be easier to do community funding in the UK than the US, provided you structure your investors as creditors and not equity. #2 consideration is going to be planning rules and the availability of special get-outs for renewables schemes. #3 is going to be grid connection. In the UK you need permission from OFGEM for large systems. It is also potentially expensive if they make you pay to dig up the road and lay 5MW cabling. Acquiring land is tied in to all of those.

by devin 7mo ago

chasd00 7mo ago

I bookmarked this thread because i'm very interested too. If AI takes all teh corporate jobs then I'm going to be a photon farmer. you can get land down in Brewster County Texas for about $1,500/acre but would need to find a spot close to a grid access point. There's some decent reddit discussions on this sort of thing.

deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]

nerdralph 7mo ago

Don't start with a 5MW project. Start with a 10-20kW ground-mount project in your back yard. Then build a 100-200kW project before trying MW.

triceratops 7mo ago
Is there a big overlap in experience building a 5MW project and a 10-20kw project? The former would involve, I imagine, more of a project manager, fund-raiser, and general contractor role for GP. The latter can be a DIY effort if they are handy and licensed. There's no way anyone is single-handedly installing the panels and inverters for a 5MW project in a reasonable timeframe. Even the hardware, land acquisition, and permitting stories would be different, right?
- triceratops 7mo ago
  No idea why that question was considered downvote-worthy.
jandrese 7mo ago
I think the hardest part of building a solar farm is the permitting. Many municipalities are hostile to the idea of converting farmland into solar fields, even with agrovoltaics. There are special interest groups that may come in and try to derail your project by propagandizing the local community against it. "But what will we eat?" is a propaganda point that you will hear a lot even though it's totally bogus. If I were doing this I'd be looking for a partner that is already in the business. The politics are a lot more complicated than the technology. It would be very easy to get screwed over if you don't know which palms to grease.
- toomuchtodo 7mo ago
  In many states, state law overrides local planning's ability to prevent siting renewables. Check if your state is one of these states if your project size requires it. > "But what will we eat?" is a propaganda point that you will hear a lot even though it's totally bogus. Indeed. The US farms almost 60 million acres for biofuels, the size of the state of Oregon. These arguments do not come from serious people imho. People are simply married to their rural identity and ag cosplay, despite it being wildly inefficient and subsidized by the federal government. https://kaufman.substack.com/p/at-least-31-states-consider-overhauling https://kaufman.substack.com/p/at-least-31-states-consider-o... https://cleantomorrow.org/reports/ https://cleantomorrow.org/reports/ (have installed 100kw+ in residential solar, and have experience following along for a ~100MW project)
- eucyclos 7mo ago
  That's probably why it's best to stay small. If you've gotten permits for 10kw project in a backyard or on a Walmart roof, you'll probably have a leg up when you start playing at a scale that brings out the nimbys.
  - pjc50 7mo ago
    This depends; my UK 3.9kWh installation was permit-exempt, requiring only an MCS certified installer so I could be eligible for feed-in tariffs. The permit regime changes as the schemes get larger.
devin 7mo ago
Why? Like, I can think of obvious reasons, but what are you trying to say someone will learn from this stepping?

pjc50 7mo ago

Trying to cost this out (in a UK context), I found very few press releases give actual cost numbers. This was rather cute though: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/news/you-can-hear-the-birds-inside-the-community-owned-solar-f-324773/ https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbourne/news/you-can-hear... "took over a 5MW site in Bobbing, near Sittingbourne, in December 2023 after raising £176,100 of investments through a crowdfunding campaign" That is for taking it over from a previous operator, and seems extremely low. More recognizable £1.5k/kW numbers give about £7.5m for that. So unless you're independently wealthy then finance is going to be your #1 consideration. It might actually be easier to do community funding in the UK than the US, provided you structure your investors as creditors and not equity. #2 consideration is going to be planning rules and the availability of special get-outs for renewables schemes. #3 is going to be grid connection. In the UK you need permission from OFGEM for large systems. It is also potentially expensive if they make you pay to dig up the road and lay 5MW cabling. Acquiring land is tied in to all of those.