Site selection for large scale solar projects

[akhalsa]

Hello All!

My background is in software development but I am thinking hard about a career change into the renewables space. As I have been doing research, I have found I am interested in the question of how sites are selected for large scale (utility and community) solar projects. Does anyone know how the market for suitable properties works or have experience identifying and negotiating for locations? I am particularly interested in what tools / marketplaces are currently available and if there are still pain points to solve in that space? I'd love any links / resources you all might be able to point me towards or to hear any of your thoughts on how these transactions typically work today?

Thanks in advance!

[J.P.M.]

I'd go out to the S.O. CA desert and take names off signs at the front gates of solar farms. Then I'd google them, and get ahold of them. Besides, they may have need of folks with you types of skills. It might be a way to slide into a new career via the side door so to speak.

You'd have been better off with an education in engineering and particularly engineering project management. I'm not sure what pushing bytes around has to do with site silection for centralized energy production projects.

As for site selection, like most projects, energy production and otherwise, it's a set of multifaceted and variable parameters most of which are co and inter dependent to some degree. Then there's fed., state and local gov. mandates and requirements.

Good luck.

[peakbagger]

Heatspring.com has some seminars on Solar that may be of interest. That said, lot of folks are chasing after this market. The actual design of farm is mostly automated, enter the site details and software spews out a design. One thing that is not automated that many folks do not realize is the interconnection to the grid can be major issue. The grid has to be capable of accepting the power generated and the utilities have a formal process for determining if and what changes needs to add a solar farm (or any other new generation to the grid. Its complex technical process that can take quite a while and the applicant pays all the fees plus any costs required to upgrade utility assets. On my CHP projects this is usually a 18 month painful experience and its not cheap. II the local electrical infrastructure is old, much of the power grid was designed as a radial system where power only went one way... If an attempt is made to add generation to a radial grid, substations may need to be upgraded to two way power transmission. The smart developers usually are hooked up with electrical firm very familiar with the local grid. In many cases these same firms may have done interconnect studies for the utilities in the past, so they have data that the general public would not have access to and can pick the low hanging fruit on sites that are easier to interconnect.

The other aspect is that solar farms chase state and local government incentives. Maine was a desert for solar, a new governor and legislature came in and changed the incentives and its been a solar farm rush. The local power utility is now backlogged so solar farms are going have to wait 2 years to connect. More than few folks have figured out that the incentives are way to generous so its gold rush to get projects approved before the rug gets pulled.

IMO, the solar development game is overcrowded, the big new thing is solar integrated with local storage batteries and the incentives are being set up to encourage it.

[SunEagle]

Heatspring.com has some seminars on Solar that may be of interest. That said, lot of folks are chasing after this market. The actual design of farm is mostly automated, enter the site details and software spews out a design. One thing that is not automated that many folks do not realize is the interconnection to the grid can be major issue. The grid has to be capable of accepting the power generated and the utilities have a formal process for determining if and what changes needs to add a solar farm (or any other new generation to the grid. Its complex technical process that can take quite a while and the applicant pays all the fees plus any costs required to upgrade utility assets. On my CHP projects this is usually a 18 month painful experience and its not cheap. II the local electrical infrastructure is old, much of the power grid was designed as a radial system where power only went one way... If an attempt is made to add generation to a radial grid, substations may need to be upgraded to two way power transmission. The smart developers usually are hooked up with electrical firm very familiar with the local grid. In many cases these same firms may have done interconnect studies for the utilities in the past, so they have data that the general public would not have access to and can pick the low hanging fruit on sites that are easier to interconnect.

The other aspect is that solar farms chase state and local government incentives. Maine was a desert for solar, a new governor and legislature came in and changed the incentives and its been a solar farm rush. The local power utility is now backlogged so solar farms are going have to wait 2 years to connect. More than few folks have figured out that the incentives are way to generous so its gold rush to get projects approved before the rug gets pulled.

IMO, the solar development game is overcrowded, the big new thing is solar integrated with local storage batteries and the incentives are being set up to encourage it.

I would also add that the OP should look at the electric rates in some states. It would be there that home solar may start to surge. As for large systems they are pretty much determined by the POCO and politics or in places that get a lot of sun like the Southwest US states.

[solarix]

My understanding from sitting in on utility scale project seminars at conferences is that the project management companies that do these jobs already have very sophisticated software for doing what you are thinking about.
Also, my impression is that there are already about a million millennial kids such as yourself trying to figure out how to make a living by putting their computers to work in the solar space. Every freaking day, I get emails from some of them wanting to sell leads generated off the internet.

[J.P.M.]

My understanding from sitting in on utility scale project seminars at conferences is that the project management companies that do these jobs already have very sophisticated software for doing what you are thinking about.
Also, my impression is that there are already about a million millennial kids such as yourself trying to figure out how to make a living by putting their computers to work in the solar space. Every freaking day, I get emails from some of them wanting to sell leads generated off the internet.

While still working in engineering management, I saw the quality and critical thinking skills of applicants for enginering and technical positions steadily deteriorate all the while.

I guess some of us have divergent opinions about the marketable value of the results of plugging in software as a substitute for critical thinking skills. Seems like you're finding computer software is still gaining ground against knowledge ?