Will water runs-off be affected by a solar farm versus a crop field?
All solar farms are subject to strict guidelines for stormwater drainage as well as for environmental permitting. Each site will go through a rigorous planning phase including the following:
- Delineation of the site watersheds
- Identification of internal drainage areas
- Completion of high level calculations (typical reports rely on the rational method for calculating peak flows)
- Confirmation that storm-water management is or is not required for the site
- Estimation of the scale and locations to accommodate the required storm water storage
These studies will ensure that the project’s water will be managed responsibly and with no effect on the neighbors’ operations.
Permanent sod grown under solar collectors build organic matter and reduce topsoil loss compared to livestock when the same ground is wet. The comparison is even more dramatic when compared to cash grain crops on the same ground.
Sod growing under solar arrays reduces the chemicals introduced into community groundwater by modern cash grain operations.
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