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

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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.