For Indiana farmer Tom McKinney, adding solar to his farm was a “no brainer.” The output from the installation meets his drying demand for half a million bushels. He sees the long-term solar benefits outweighing the possible burdens.
After a few years of high grain prices, McKinney installed a 12-kilowatt solar farm to reduce his on-farm costs.
“When we had $6 corn, I wanted to park some of that somewhere I could reduce or eliminate some of my expenses in the upcoming decade,” he says. “I receive no payment for the power I produce. But, at the same time, I don’t pay for any power.”
Community Support (Or Lack Of)
Community support for solar tends to waver, at least in McKinney’s experience. But he says many concerns are based on misinformation.
“For example, a couple people said, ‘We don’t want these because if a windstorm or a tornado hit them, all that liquid would fall into the ground and contaminate our water,’ but these solar panels don’t contain any liquid,” says McKinney. “It’s no different than if somebody broke a window on the passenger door of your car.”
Solar panels are made of mainly nontoxic materials, so they offer minimal health hazards, says John Hay, University of Nebraska Extension educator for bioenergy. Additionally, the electromagnetic fields are low intensity with fences and setbacks for added safety.
The burden of field maintenance was also considered an issue in McKinney’s area. Nonetheless, he prefers to groom the land himself rather than seek his leasing company’s assistance.
He says his community also actively brainstorms ideas for solar grounds maintenance, sharing, “A couple of our local schools who are looking into solar have toyed with the idea of putting the solar panels up a little bit higher and grazing livestock, establishing gardens, or even academic learning areas,” McKinney said.
McKinney sees the long-term solar benefits outweighing the possible burdens. But he encourages farmers to do their homework before taking the plunge into solar.
Questions to Ask
Before you sign a long-term solar lease, find the answers to these questions, suggests Todd Janzen, president of Janzen Schroeder Agricultural Law.
Is the developer paying you enough to close the door on competitors? The solar lease will likely seek to tie-up the property for a period of years while the developer arranges permits, funding, zoning, and other items necessary for construction.
Do the lease payments take inflation into account? A 30-, 40-, or 50-year lease should have a built-in rent payment escalator.
Who receives the carbon and tax credits? Understand you may be giving up an enormous upside if these markets take off years from now. and companies are willing to pay farmers to sequester carbon as part of their farming activities.
Is the developer committed to keeping the solar farm maintained to your standards? A field of solar panels seems harmless enough, but what happens if the solar field is full of noxious weeds that spread onto neighboring fields?
Will the developer provide a removal bond? If the solar company goes bankrupt, you could be left with a field full of salvage-value solar panels. Insist the developer provide some form of security that will pay for the cost of removal if the solar company goes bankrupt or disappears.
