Project Overview
Crossroads Solar is pleased to partner with Fountain County landowners on a proposed 200-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic generation facility. The project will be a source of clean, locally generated electric power, while diversifying farm income and providing significant environmental and economic benefits in the local community.
Rows of panels will track the sun
The project will feature rows of solar panels, surrounded by prairie grasses and pollinators compatible with grazing and beekeeping. The panels will track the sun throughout the day. Significant spacing between rows – typically about 16 to 20 feet – prevents shading of adjacent rows, allows for maintenance, and allows ample space for vegetation between rows.
Panels will be set back from homes, roads, and from the boundaries of properties that are not participating in the project.
The project will use a simple design that minimizes soil disturbance, with solar panels mounted on racks attached to steel posts that have been driven into the ground. Rows of panels will be arranged along a north-south axis, and the panels will rotate from east to west throughout the day to efficiently capture the sun’s energy.
The panels are designed to absorb light and include an anti-glare coating. These features, coupled with the sun-tracking motion, limit glare in the area around the facility. Of note, similar panels and facilities are frequently sited with Federal Aviation Administration approval adjacent to airports.
Buried wires connecting the rows of panels will lead first to inverters that convert direct current to alternating current, and then from inverters to a step-up transformer, where the voltage will be increased to transmission system levels for connection to the existing transmission substation located along Public Service Road, west of Veedersburg. The project substation and transformer will be located adjacent to the existing substation. Importantly, the location of the project is optimized to minimize the need for new transmission infrastructure, such as lines and towers.
Panel rows will be generously spaced
To minimize shadows on adjacent rows, to allow for maintenance, and to allow ample space for vegetation between rows, the centers of rows will be spaced about 16-20 feet apart, leaving wide gaps between, even when panels are flat at midday.
Panels will be about as tall as full-grown corn
Panels will be tallest at sunrise and sunset, when they will be turned toward the sun. Panel rotation will stop at 30 degrees from vertical to further limit glare in the area around the facility. When the sun rises higher than 30 degrees above the horizon in the morning, the panels will start to track the sun across the sky, rotating to flat at midday and then returning to their tallest profile as sunset approaches.
Why Solar and Why Here?
Low-cost energy
Driven by a 90% drop since 2009 in the price of energy from utility-scale solar facilities like the proposed Crossroads Solar facility,* demand for stable, predictably-priced solar energy is significant and growing. The strong demand reflects that the technology now competes head-to-head with other forms of new electric generation here in Indiana and is a sought-after addition to electric generation portfolios.
Partnering with landowners
Crossroads Solar partners with local landowners to secure land for the project, providing a means of income diversification while protecting and preserving agricultural land for future generations. The collaboration also helps to localize overall energy spending, keeping money in state where it can continue to generate local benefits, all while improving environmental outcomes.
Harvesting the sun and making efficient use of existing electric transmission infrastructure
Some of the same characteristics that make land attractive for farming also make it attractive for solar energy generation – flat, well-drained, open ground. One other key characteristic differentiates the land that this project seeks to use – it is in close proximity to an existing electric substation that has adequate capacity to handle additional energy, without triggering the need for new electric transmission lines or other significant transmission improvements. The ability to add significant generation at an under-utilized point on the electric transmission system is a key benefit of this project, helping to minimize cost and avoid the need for new transmission lines.
Less than 1% of Fountain County Cropland – available for later return to cropland
Crossroads Solar will be located within about 1,700 acres in Fountain County, which is less than 1% of the cropland in the county. All land is offered voluntarily by landowners interested in participating in the project, with no use of eminent domain. At the end of life of the solar facility, leases require removal of solar equipment and restoration, so the ground can again be used for agriculture. While it is used for solar energy production, in addition to hosting generously-spaced rows of solar panels, land used for this project will be planted in deep-rooted grasses and pollinators, much like ground enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Improved grassland water infiltration along with pollinator habitat can improve surrounding agricultural lands and, coming out of solar production, the well-rested land could be some of the best crop production ground around.
Our sun’s energy is predictable, unlimited, and free.
Solar power is a clean energy source with no emissions.
Solar systems produce power during the day when demand is high.
Construction of new large-scale solar facilities can create hundreds of jobs.
State governments, businesses, and utilities can use solar to meet their renewable energy policy targets.
Solar projects generate tax revenues for communities which can be used to invest in new roads, bridges, schools or to offset existing tax rates.
The levelized cost of energy from utility-scale solar has declined by 90% since 2009* and has reached cost parity with traditional forms of generation in many regions.
Solar development is temporary and helps to preserve land for
future generations.
Community, Environmental & Economic Benefits
Crossroads Solar represents a significant investment in Fountain County, estimated at greater than $175 million.
A project the size of Crossroads Solar removes the equivalent carbon output of 62,000 cars from the roads, and will provide enough electricity to power more than 30,000 Indiana homes.
Leased land payments will provide income diversification for local farmers while protecting and preserving agricultural land for future generations.
Taxes paid by the project will benefit local schools, roads, and other County needs.
The site will feature grass and seed mixes below panels and within the site that will help build soil nutrients and reduce fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide use.
Pollinator habitats created by the ground cover under the panels can improve surrounding agriculture.
Reduced stormwater runoff and soil erosion from the land hosting solar panels can improve downstream water quality.
Renewable projects can bring other investment to the state, such as manufacturers and other businesses looking to locate close to renewable energy sources.
Crossroads Solar is designed to generate clean power for Indiana for 30 years or more.
At the end of project life, facilities will be removed, and the land will be restored for agricultural use.