re: 1600 Acre Solar Farm coming to St. Landry Parish

You should have had a lawyer review the contract then amend the part where the solar company can walk away at any point and the clean up is your problem.

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A) Does anyone know what the state/federal incentives look like for these companies?

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LA Solar Panel investors and 411

Of the 16 solar power farms proposed in Louisiana, nearly half are controlled by an East Coast hedge fund with an appetite for solar and wind projects contained in a growing $15 billion renewable power portfolio.

All the projects have sought or are seeking public approval of 80% property tax breaks for up to 10 years through the state's Industrial Property Tax Exemption Program for projects on primarily agricultural land being transformed into industrial sites that typically last at least two decades.

RECURRENT ENERGY: Outside of Bastrop in Morehouse Parish, a subsidiary of publicly traded Canadian Solar, which manufactures solar panels and constructs projects, is building Bayou Galion Solar Project. Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy is leading the development, a 98 megawatt project on 1,000 acres for $98 million. Recurrent Energy has completed more than 70 projects since 2006, with customers such as Google, GE Energy, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy.

Canadian Solar's subsidiary told the state board that approves economic incentives that it already has an agreement with Entergy, which has said that the project is not contingent on a contract with the utility.

EDP RENEWABLES: A U.S. subsidiary of Portuguese electric utilities giant Energias de Portugal is behind a $78.5 million solar project in Morehouse Parish near Bastrop. It could produce 50 megawatts of power. EDP Renewables has been investing in its own projects but also buying equity stakes in other projects across the U.S., such as a deal for a portfolio worth $119 million for 89 megawatts from C2 Omega LLC, according to a deal announced in January.

LIGHTSOURCE: The single largest solar project proposed is for 300 megawatts in Pointe Coupee Parish. Ventress Solar is proposed near New Roads and would span 2,732 acres. The project is being developed by San Francisco-based Lightsource Renewable Energy Development LLC, which is the renewable energy arm for BP. Lighthouse already has more than 400 megawatts of solar connected to the grid with another 616 megawatts of power under construction.

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Energy production is like food production, the fewer jobs required to meet our needs the more the rest of the economy benefits.

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Link?

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It also produces jobs for people. What would you have people do if they’re not “wasting their time” producing food or a sellable commodity?

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Creating things of value.

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It also produces jobs for people. What would you have people do if they’re not “wasting their time” producing food or a sellable commodity?

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Jobs are nice until it cranks up the O&M and your bills go up. Because that’s exactly how utility companies work.

Also while very minimal onsite jobs for operation there are a ton of jobs monitoring and 3rd party jobs (drones, weather data companies, insurance etc)

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Seems like they can fit a lot more in that picture. Do they phase things up and add in between as they grow?

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Shading and grading dictate the spacing between the strings.

Part of the design considerations is to minimize grading while maintaining plant capacity. Not usually an issue on flat farmland but it still needs to be considered. The heat generated from the juice going through the cable is addressed by sizing the string lengths, which is the number of panels connected in series, and sizing the cable itself. This picture looks to be an older one. The cables are buried. You see more cable in hangers these days.

Solar farms are fricking disgusting and I hate them and the people who push them with a deep passion.

I honestly don’t get the hate for solar farms. It’s a passive way to create energy.

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I honestly don’t get the hate for solar farms. It’s a passive way to create energy.

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I love it on rooftops but hate clearing land for it. But I understand that big investments like these are what it takes to eventually bring costs down for homeowner rooftop installs.

“Homeowners get the exact same federal tax credit that solar farms get.”

I think some people don’t understand it’s easier to build 1 -1 million KW plant than 500- 2000KW plants. Not sure what the actual size is, but you understand the math. It’s easier and cheaper to build and maintain.