As the demand for renewable energy sources continues to increase, innovative solutions are being explored to meet this growing need. One of these solutions is the development of solar energy on brownfield sites, specifically landfills. Brownfield sites, like landfills, often pose environmental and health risks, making them difficult to redevelop for traditional land uses. However, they provide a unique opportunity for solar energy development. This resource explores the benefits and challenges of solar energy development on capped landfills, highlighting how government agencies can repurpose these properties to generate revenue and produce clean energy.
Many government agencies across the country own brownfield properties and capped landfills. Repurposing these landfill properties often presents a challenge for agencies, but oftentimes, these sites can be leased for solar energy development, generating revenue while breathing new life into the underutilized property. If you're curious about the potential of your agency's brownfield site or landfill for clean energy production, book a free consultation call with the government team at LandGate:
Landfill Solar Farms: Benefits and Challenges
Developing solar farms on landfills presents a unique opportunity to repurpose otherwise unproductive land into valuable clean energy assets. While this innovative approach offers notable benefits such as renewable energy production and revenue generation for public agencies, it also comes with distinct challenges. Proper planning and expertise are essential for overcoming these hurdles and ensuring the success of such projects.
Benefits of Landfill Solar Farms
Landfills are uniquely suited for solar energy projects due to their expansive size and proximity to existing transmission infrastructure. These sites, often deemed unusable, have minimal impact on surrounding areas, making them an ideal choice for solar energy development.
Generates Revenue: By leasing capped landfills for solar farms, government agencies can generate significant revenue through lease payments paid by solar developers.
Combats Climate Change: Redeveloping capped landfills into solar farms helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As landfills decompose, they release methane—a potent greenhouse gas. Installing solar panels on these sites can help mitigate methane emissions, contributing to a cleaner atmosphere.
Revitalizes Underutilized Land: Capped landfills are difficult to redevelop. By transforming capped landfills into solar farms, government agencies can breathe new life into these properties and transform them into assets.
Economic Benefits: Transforming landfills into solar farms can deliver significant economic advantages to local communities. The development and maintenance of solar projects creates jobs and generates local tax revenue.
Highly Scalabale: Landfill solar offers immense scalability, with thousands of active landfills across the United States and countless more that are closed or inactive, presenting significant opportunities for development. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evaluated over 190,000 previously contaminated sites, including landfills and mines, spanning nearly 44 million acres across the United States. These locations have been assessed for their potential to host renewable energy facilities, such as utility-scale solar projects.
Challenges of Landfill Solar Farms
While landfill solar farms offer numerous advantages, they also present several significant challenges. Key obstacles include environmental liability, navigating complex regulatory and policy frameworks, and addressing the financial implications of such projects.
Environmental Liability: A major concern associated with solar farms on landfills is environmental liability. The potential for soil contamination and how it may affect the performance and lifespan of the solar panels is one issue. Similarly, closed landfills must manage groundwater contamination and the emissions of methane and carbon dioxide from rotting trash. Extensive testing and remediation may be necessary to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the solar farm.
Regulatory & Policy Hurdles: Installing solar panels on landfill sites demands a careful and meticulous process to prevent any disruption to the landfill cap or the waste beneath it. Navigating complex zoning laws, environmental regulations, and local policies can pose significant challenges, with each landfill governed by its own unique set of rules and restrictions.
Financial Considerations: Transforming capped landfills into solar farms presents a complex financial picture. While the upfront costs can be significant due to the extensive preparation and evaluation required for solar infrastructure, the long-term benefits often outweigh these initial expenses. Savings from land restoration, consistent energy generation, and potential revenue from leasing agreements with solar companies can make this investment not only viable but highly rewarding over time.
Landfill Solar Farms in the U.S.
Across the United States, a growing trend is turning closed landfills into solar farms, known as "brightfields." These sites, previously referred to as "brownfields" due to their hazardous nature, are being repurposed to create clean, renewable energy. Recent data highlights a surge in these landfill solar projects, with local governments leading efforts that have collectively produced 207 megawatts of energy—an impressive tenfold increase compared to previous years.
Notable projects include large-scale solar farms in Columbus, Ohio, and Houston, Texas, each capable of powering approximately 5,000 homes annually. In 2022, landfill solar installations boasted a total capacity of around 2.4 gigawatts, enough to provide electricity for 500,000 homes, with ample potential for further expansion.
In Rhode Island specifically, landfill solar farms are becoming more common. Boston-based CME Energy made history in 2013 by completing Rhode Island's first solar landfill project in East Providence. A few years later, the project’s capacity was expanded to 6.7 megawatts, showcasing the potential of renewable energy on reclaimed land. Since then, similar projects have steadily emerged, transforming landfills into valuable sources of clean energy. For example, the Bristol Landfill Solar Project, completed in July 2024, stands as Rhode Island's largest solar installation on a closed landfill. Spanning 90 acres on Bristol's east side, this 6.9-megawatt array generates enough clean energy to power approximately 700 homes, showcasing a remarkable example of sustainable land use.
Another government agency that is actively working to redevelop its capped landfill for solar energy is Weber County, UT. Weber County has advertised its 142-acre capped landfill for lease for a solar farm on LandGate's platform. The property benefits from its close proximity to 5 substations, 2 69 kV transmission lines running through the property, and 3 fiber lines surrounding the location. Weber County has already received multiple lease offers from developers from this listing.
The Growth of Landfill Solar Farms
Landfills present a unique opportunity for the development of solar energy projects, and the benefits of these projects are undeniable. Landfills often offer ideal sun exposure, are conveniently located near existing infrastructure, and avoid many of the land-use conflicts commonly faced by traditional solar developments. By transforming once-hazardous spaces into sources of clean energy, brightfields are proving to be a powerful innovation in sustainable development. As the demand for clean energy sources continues to grow, the use of other brownfield sites for solar farms will likely increase as well.
Government property owners can list their capped landfills for lease for solar energy for free on LandGate's unique marketplace for exposure to a network of prominent energy developers actively searching for new sites. LandGate also provides in-depth data and analytics to help government agencies analyze the suitability of their properties for renewable energy development, helping them transform underutilized properties into revenue-generating assets. To learn more about LandGate's free services for government agencies, book a call with our team today:
