By John Estridge
Franklin County Area Plan Commission members did not have any hearings on their agenda Wednesday night, August 12; however, they discussed several items they wanted to add to the county’s zoning code.
And one of those was about solar farms.
In the audience listening to the conversation about solar farms was Dr. Calvin Finch. He had more than an academic interest in the situation. He told the members he has been approached by a company about putting a solar farm on acreage, including his own. Finch was wondering if he needed any permits.
Finch said the company is interested in about 2,500 acres they want to put together. He owns acreage in Bath and Springfield townships. That amount of acreage is equivalent to almost four square miles.
“I was wondering if you need to have permits, and what do you do with that?” Finch asked.
APC President Ruthie Mannix told Finch there is not anything in the Franklin County Zoning Code regarding solar farms so there would not be any permits needed at this time. She said that is what the board members were trying to do is to get enough information available to write regulations, concerning solar farms, into the county’s zoning code.
Finch said he is to meet with officials from the interested company on Tuesday, August 18.
According to renewableenergyworld.com, solar farms are:
“… large scale solar installations where photovoltaic (PV) panels, referred to as solar panels, or other means of collecting solar energy, like concentrating solar systems are used to harvest the sun’s power,” the article on the website reads. “They’re different than rooftop solar systems and even commercial solar power systems in a number of important ways.
“Solar farms are also known as solar parks and solar power stations,” the article continues. “They operate as power plants, just like a natural gas power plant or other sources of energy generation that have generated electricity for consumers for the last century.
“Unlike residential and commercial systems, they’re decentralized and usually consist of ground-mounted solar panels installed across large areas,” the article reads. “In most cases, instead of providing power to a local end-user like a homeowner or business, solar farms provide power to the electric grid and are part of the utility’s energy mix. There are different types of large solar projects, like community solar farms and utility-scale solar farms. Some solar projects, like those built to power data centers or other large users of solar power, have solar farms built purely for their use—sometimes onsite, sometimes offsite.”
According to vittana.org, it takes 2.5 acres of solar panels to generate one megawatt. Thus, a solar farm that covers 2,500 acres could generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity. Also, that website discusses the pros and cons of solar power. One of the negatives is storing the excess generated electricity. Currently, storage batteries are used, according to that website.
Cleanenergyauthority.com states one megawatt is equivalent to the energy produced by 10 automobile engines. A megawatt hour (Mwh) is equal to 1,000 Kilowatt hours (Kwh). It is equal to 1,000 kilowatts of electricity used continuously for one hour.
Mary Rodenhuis, extension educator and APC member, had the most information concerning the subject.
She said Shelby County approved a solar farm near Morristown last fall. Also, there is one in Decatur County.
She brought two samples of solar panel farm regulations for zoning codes: one is from Shelby County and the other from Posey County. She is going to email copies of the regulations to other APC members. She said the main concerns regard toxicity as usually the ground is leased for 20-30 years. There is concern on what the ground will be like after that time.
Rodenhuis explained wind power is more popular in Northern Indiana, but solar power farms are gaining in popularity overall.
She also talked about a Purdue study of making the panels high enough off the ground to allow the farmland to be cultivated while the solar panels are in use.
Brookville businessman Rick Gill attended the meeting because he had a public hearing on a variance application for the Board of Zoning Appeals, which met after the APC.
He said he had solar panels installed at his home. For the excess electricity he makes for his home, he receives credits from the utility company. Then, during the winter months when the amount of electricity generated by the solar panels is not as much as during the summer, the credits are used against his winter electric bills.
Gill, who is a member of the Franklin County Community School Corporation Board of Trustees, said he tried to talk the school system to go into solar electricity, but he was unsuccessful.
During its 45-minute meeting, the APC members also discussed needing regulations for wind power and tiny homes.
On the latter, tiny homes, the county has a minimum of 950 square feet needed for a residence. Tiny homes are not that large. A variance was discussed as a way of getting a permit for a tiny home.
Franklin Co might want to check into Preble Co, OH’s issues with this. There is far more involved than what is being presented here. As a Bath resident, I have no interest in this being built in our beautiful area nor do I bet many others. If this person wants this let him build it over at his home on 1.