re: I have someone trying to pitch me on Solar Farms...

Hey Bro... I've been digging into the industry for the past 3 months from a "salesman/installer" point of view... Do your research, and A LOT of it before you sign anything.. at this point in my research, I'd tell the dude to frick off.

Look into Louisiana Net Metering. It varies by state. I didn't read all the replies, so if needed, I'll come back and edit to add, etc.

Edit 1: I will add this... for residential.. salesmen get up to $20k commission on a closed moderate sized deal. They will lie their asses off to get you to sign, and I'd venture to guess his commission on a farm would be well over 100k. Keep that in mind. The industry is unregulated & full of lying scumbags.

Also, another red flag that should make you stop and think…

Why are they being so aggressive in a state that is cloudy 100 days a year?

They are farming taxpayers, not energy.

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for residential.. salesmen ... will lie their asses off to get you to sign... The industry is unregulated & full of lying scumbags.

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I agree with this 100%

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For a very small initial option fee paid to the landowner, the landowner's land is tied up forever.

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THIS!

Our parish council woman helped some dairy farmers review proposal's for their property in our area. The contract they were being asked to sign ceded more surface property rights than the owners had thought about.

Like what if no solar is built, but 2 years down the road, oil is drilled on adjacent land? Have you just signed away rights to charge the oil company for roads and other utility usage?

Are you up in the Haynesville Shale area?

I manage land in TX and LA with a few thousand acres that we leased for solar development. I engage counsel with significant solar leasing experience to review and revise the agreements prior to entering an easement and lease agreement. $ has been very beneficial to my clients and future removal and remediation language is a must in these agreements. I’m not a fan or solar/wind but depending on location and use this is a much better return for my clients. I hate that this is all subsidized by taxpayers. Let it stand on its own and see if it fails (it would fail).

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They are locking up land with 25-30 year leases but all they are really farming is “carbon credits.” As soon as the subsidies dry up(the only thing that’s making these ventures profitable), they will vanish.

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I don't agree that subsidies are going to drive the carbon market in the future because the voluntary market will keep growing. But it is important to remember that carbon is a commodity so it's prone to commodity cycles especially as supply comes online all over the world.

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What happens when your land is no longer taxed as agriculture and they charge at a commercial rate with lets say $10 million in improvements/equipment

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This is gonna happen!

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Note: Avoided cost refers to energy production from a residence. Meaning any additional energy produced above and beyond what is used and designated to be sent to the grid will be purchased by Entergy at $0.0368226/kWh

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So I buy power from Entergy at .15 a kWH, but I can only sell it back to Entergy for less than 4 cents a kWH if I had solar panels.

I knew shrimpers go screwed at the dock for selling their catch buying it for a dollar a pound while a grocery store up the road is selling fresh shrimp for 5-10 dollars a pound.

Power companies are just as greedy.

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A lot of these "dudes" aren't trying to build solar farms right away, but instead are trying to get an option to put a solar farm on your land sometime between now and forever. For a very small initial option fee paid to the landowner, the landowner's land is tied up forever. The "dude" then tries to sell a bundle of these farms that he has options on to a bigger investor down the road who may be the one who ultimately puts in a solar farm. The landowner doesn't get real money until a solar farm is built.

Is the land anywhere near a high transmission electric line? If not, there is no way that they won't build a solar farm there for a long time because they have no way to transmit the electricity generated without building high transmission lines (and the associated costs of building and getting right-of-ways).

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Any Solar / Wind Lease is going to have an option period of 4 to 5 years. No one is signing an option that is going to tie up their land "forever."

During the option period the landowner has the right to lease their land, farm their land, or do whatever they want with it. They get paid during all of this.

"The landowner doesn't get real money until a solar farm is built." This is correct. They get paid $20-$50 an acre for an option. They get paid money while being able to use their land as normal.

Both the landowner and lease owner want to see the lease go to the operational period. That's when they both make money. It does not benefit any energy company to option to lease land with no plans on using it.

As far as transmission lines, they are being upgraded and added all over the country. They WILL actually build Solar and Wind Farms and run new lines lines to tie into existing transmission lines.

MISO, TVA, PJM, ERCOT, SPP etc all know that transmission is the one thing holding renewables back and are actively taking care of the problems. Transmission lines are the biggest ROW business currently.

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