Silicon Ranch is developing, and will own and operate, a 260-megawatt energy + agriculture project and maintain it for its 40-year useful life.
Silicon Ranch has contracted to purchase a 4,500-acre industrial timber site in Baldwin County, Alabama. Of that acreage we will own, we will manage 2,500 acres in permanent conservation and convert the remaining 2,000 acres to pastureland that will host energy infrastructure and a working sheep ranch.
By buying this land in Baldwin County, we assume assured private property rights and responsibilities as property owners and land stewards. Among these rights are our right to install infrastructure to generate energy to power homes and businesses in the state of Alabama. We also have a right to use our land to produce agricultural products such as pasture-raised meat.
Like all owners of private property—including the previous owners of this site, who used it for industrial timber production, which is their right as property owners—we will exercise our Right of Control and use part of our land to generate much needed energy to power homes and businesses in Alabama and to raise livestock to produce pasture-raised meats that will support the local food supply.
As an owner, we are a long-term steward of our land and we embrace our responsibility to protect the soil, water, and air.
The Stockton Solar Farm will have positive economic, social, and land use impacts that will benefit Baldwin County for the long-term.
Capital Investment for Local Economic Growth
~$350 million
New Tax Revenues over 40 Years to Fund Schools and Public Services
$50 million+
American Made Energy using American made Equipment
Land Converted to Permanent Conservation
2,500 acres
Land in Energy Production and Regenerative Agriculture
2,000 acres
Capital Investment for Local Economic Growth
~$350 million
New Tax Revenues over 40 Years to Fund Schools and Public Services
$50 million+
American-Made Energy using American-Made Equipment
Land Converted to Permanent Conservation
2,500 acres
Land in Energy Production and Regenerative Agriculture
2,000 acres
American-Made Energy
As an energy company, we use our land and the sun to generate energy that helps utilities across this country power American homes and American businesses as one element of an all-the-above energy mix. This is what unleashing American energy looks like.
This meaningful work supports robust infrastructure, grid reliability, and stability. It does so while promoting energy independence with a generation source that harnesses the sun using American-made technology manufactured in American factories, employing American workers.
The principal technology—our solar modules—we will install on our land in Baldwin County are manufactured by an American company, First Solar, in a $1.2 billion manufacturing facility right here in Alabama that employs more than 800 Alabamians with good paying jobs and careers in an innovative technology sector.
Photo courtesy of First Solar
Regenerative Agriculture
By transitioning former industrial timberland into a regeneratively managed pastoral landscape, we create a diverse, permanent cover of deep-rooted perennial grasses that—unlike standard industrial timber cycles—improves soil health and promotes long-term, deep-rooted multi-species grasses and plant growth cycles. Our functioning grassland ecosystems build soil organic matter, increase water-holding capacity, and foster a thriving underground microbiome.
These meaningful outcomes: unleashing American energy, raising pasture-raised meats, and improving soil, water, and air quality can be achieved on less than half the property we will own. That leaves us with more than 2,500 acres of private property that we will preserve, conserve, and steward for the next 40 years. We do this by leveraging 15 years of unrivaled experience as owners of tens of thousands of acres across the country. Because we measure these outcomes, we are continuously improving upon best practices through the work that we do.
Regenerative Energy®
Silicon Ranch is the industry leader in grazing agrivoltaics projects through our wholly owned agribusiness, Regenerative Energy®. We own one of the largest sheep flocks in the Southeastern U.S., employ a team of shepherds, and are working to scale cattle grazing through our patented CattleTracker™ system.
Protecting Wetlands & Other Sensitive Habitats
Working in compliance and coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this project is being carefully designed to steer clear of wetlands and other sensitive areas, focusing development on already disturbed lands.
Regenerative Land Management to Protect Waterways and Enhance Habitats
Through regenerative land management of our property—including land under our solar arrays—we promote long-term, deep-rooted multi-species grasses and plant growth cycles to improve soil health, revitalize ecosystems, and enhance biodiversity and habitat, and increase water infiltration and water retention.
Our award-winning and nationally recognized approach to land stewardship, along with the use of erosion control and stormwater best management practices, helps safeguard sensitive downstream environments and wildlife.
Leading with Wildlife and Habitat Conservation: Silicon Ranch Gopher Tortoise Sanctuaries
Our commitment to ecosystem stewardship goes beyond following the rules to leading with conservation. A prime example of this commitment are the Silicon Ranch Gopher Tortoise Sanctuaries in Georgia, first-of-their-kind private habitats created in partnership with state wildlife biologists that have successfully relocated and protected thousands of tortoises, creating permanent, managed habitats that have helped prevent the species from becoming endangered. We will bring our ‘conservation-first’ philosophy to our work here in Alabama, conducting rigorous species surveys and working alongside state experts to ensure that this project not only provides clean energy but serves as a responsible, long-term steward of Alabama’s unique Gulf Coast ecosystem.
Community Outreach
We look forward to holding multiple community meetings well before we begin installation of this project in 2027 to allow residents to have every opportunity to ask questions and understand our plans for the site.
Read about the Houston Lambing Barn
To grow our company flock responsibly, we constructed a state-of-the-art lambing barn at our Houston Solar Project in Houston County, Georgia, built a team of in-house shepherds and world-leading sheep geneticists, and partnered with the National Sheep Improvement Program to help strengthen not only our flock but the entire national flock as well. Click here to learn more about this happy marriage of tradition and innovation.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Stockton Solar Farm
We have already received a number of questions and concerns about this project and what it will mean for Baldwin County. You can read those questions and our responses to them in in this document here. Have other questions about the Stockton Solar Farm? We have compiled a list of common questions about the project.
Silicon Ranch is a full-service energy solutions company committed to boosting economies, strengthening communities, and restoring healthy air, water, and soil.
We own and operate every one of our projects for its 40-year+ life, underscoring our deep commitment to the partners and communities we serve.
We do what we say we will do: Since we began operations in 2011, we have successfully delivered every project for every Power Purchase Agreement we have signed. We have accomplished these outcomes through a consistent approach to our development process and choosing the right path over the easier path to get the job done.
We support utilities who pursue an all-of-the above energy-mix strategy. We chose this county because it offers access to a high-voltage transmission line that has capacity to accept additional electricity generation. This made-in-America energy project will produce vital electricity to support Alabama Power Company in meeting increasing energy demand from both homes and businesses across the state.
Yes. Among the many benefits of the Stockton Solar Farm, the infrastructure we will install will bolster the resiliency of the local electric grid. The energy generated by this local solar plant will physically power the closest neighborhoods first before traveling further distances across the electric grid. Power naturally flows to the nearest homes and businesses using electricity because like water, electricity follows the path of least resistance to find its quickest balance. This means the community is less dependent on long-distance transmission lines that are vulnerable to storms or equipment failure. Our energy + ag projects also provide access to land for local farmers and new revenue for both farmers and their suppliers and yield local pasture-raised meat and healthier soil.
No. We are committed to excellent land stewardship. We design our projects to avoid wetlands and other sensitive areas because they are vital for water filtration, flood control, and wildlife habitat. Moreover, federal, state, and local regulations (such as the federal Clean Water Act) prohibit or severely restrict most wetland development and we comply with all regulations. Less than half the land for this facility will be occupied by the solar facility itself. The remaining area will be conserved for visual buffers, setbacks, and avoided protected wetlands.
We recognize our responsibility as neighbors to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
We take intentional steps in our facility design, construction, operations, and land management to ensure that the amount of stormwater runoff is less than or equal to the amount of stormwater runoff that exists when we buy the property.
Preconstruction: Our pre-construction land management practices are designed to stabilize soil to reduce the risk of erosion for the life of the project, while protecting water sources. Pre-construction, whenever prior land use and land acquisition timing permit, we test and amend the soil to ensure it provides ideal conditions for plant growth and pre-seed a regionally appropriate, permanent, perennial seed mix plus annual cover crops to establish a functioning grassland ecosystem and livestock forage.
Construction: During construction, we work to build our sites to the natural contours of the land as much as possible. Silicon Ranch pays a premium to use the NX Horizon XTR terrain-following racking system, which enables us to minimize earthwork and preserve much of the original contours of the land. In other words, we pay more to grade less. Moreover, during construction, we use the lightest and smallest equipment possible to reduce pressure on the soil and use controlled traffic patterns to minimize the number of areas that are exposed to vehicles.
Operations: Once the project is operational, we nurture the land using regenerative land management practices that decrease erosion and runoff by building healthier soil with more organic matter and looser soils. These practices, which we implement under our Regenerative Energy® agribusiness, improve soil, ecosystem function, water infiltration, and water retention, leading to less stormwater runoff. They also increase biodiversity of both plants and wildlife and help us ensure that the land will be far healthier when the project is decommissioned than it was when we found it. Impervious surfaces (foundation pads, equipment, gravel roadways, etc.) will cover a relatively minor amount of the land housing it. So, while solar panels will be installed on part of the land, the stormwater will flow off the panels and across the vegetation, allowing for the water to infiltrate and evaporate or be absorbed and replenish the aquifer.
The reduction in stormwater runoff peak flow improves downstream flooding issues. Existing natural resources (e.g., wetlands, ponds, streams, floodplains, etc.) and associated buffer areas are field identified, delineated, reviewed by the appropriate agencies, and marked during construction to be protected. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to temporarily or permanently impact a natural resource to facilitate a crossing location (e.g., access road-stream crossing). In these situations, we secure all necessary permits, and we implement associated mitigative measures.
Like other types of development, utility-scale energy projects are subject to federal, state, and local environmental requirements and we comply or go beyond compliance with all of these.
Silicon Ranch uses First Solar modules manufactured in the U.S. They have been deployed across the country for over 20 years without a single safety incident. There is no evidence to support the claim that cadmium can leach into the water and soil over the short or long term.These cadmium telluride (CdTe) panels are not hazardous and do not negatively impact soil or water or endanger human or animal health. First Solar panels do not contain liquids that can leak. The thin layers of CdTe in these panels are stable and solid (high boiling point, low vapor pressure, low solubility) and are encapsulated between thick layers of glass.
First Solar panels are made of tempered glass and pass rigorous hail and other weather testing, as well as the U.S. EPA’s Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure test.
Cadmium telluride is not the same as the element cadmium (Cd), which is toxic, and cadmium telluride does not pose the risks that cadmium poses. In the presence of tellurium, cadmium forms a crystalline lattice that is highly stable.
You may see the word cadmium and become concerned, much as you might with the word chlorine, but when these materials are combined with certain other materials, they become stable compounds with different properties than they have in their solitary forms. You’re likely familiar with the stable compound sodium chloride (NaCI), also known as table salt. It is made of chlorine—an element that in its solitary state is a deadly gas—yet you likely cook with NaCI, heat it up, and eat it on a daily basis. Like sodium chloride, cadmium telluride is a stable compound that is safe even though it is made up in part of the metal, cadmium.
To learn more about this technology, you can visit the website of our module manufacturer: firstsolar.com/Technology/CadTel
Our plants are built to withstand hurricane force winds, both through design and the use of a best-in-class technology that enables the plants to automatically monitor weather and enter “stow mode”, where the panels go into a flat position to reduce wind friction. During Hurricane Helene, this technology protected our plants against the worst the storm could throw, and as a result, our solar plants played a role in continuing to power the grid in rural parts of Georgia during that challenging time.
Our solar projects provided a similar benefit to rural communities in the Tennessee Valley in 2022 when the region experienced Winter Storm Elliot—an unprecedented weather event that led to TVA’s highest winter power peak in its 90-year history. Due to this unforeseen demand—exceeding the amount of electricity TVA could produce for its local power companies—TVA instituted rolling blackouts across the Valley to ensure the entire resiliency of the grid. Throughout the duration of Winter Storm Elliott, our projects continued to operate at peak performance and enabled the local power companies with solar projects tied to their system to reduce the number of customers that they had to curtail and cut power to, increasing system resiliency.
You can read more about how our solar projects were able to provide support to rural communities in the Tennessee Valley during this unprecedented event in this blog post: “Solar’s Undeterred Performance: Winter Storm Elliott”.
We always take into consideration goals of the project and feedback from the community. In some communities, we plant vegetative screenings and try to limit sightlines. Large solar farms have a low profile, however—about 8 to 15 feet from grade—similar to a greenhouse.
Some companies install solar panels on top of warehouses, commercial buildings, and homes. Silicon Ranch takes a different approach for a variety of reasons. First, location: utility-scale solar projects need to be near a viable transmission or distribution line to allow for connection to the electric grid and prevent needing long, expensive transmission lines. Additionally, consolidating the solar plant in a single location rather than distributing it across multiple locations allows for more efficient and effective connection to the grid. Second, size: Silicon Ranch aims to build utility-scale solar projects that require large areas to generate the amount of energy necessary to meet our customers’ needs. Large warehouses, which tend to be between 500,000 and 1,000,000 square feet (approximately 12 – 24 acres) are not typically large enough to meet these needs. Finally. not all existing buildings are designed or built to hold the structural load of a solar plant on the roof.
We aim to deliver power into the communities that the power will serve. Each community has a range of siting options available, including both rooftop and ground mounted. In addition to considerations of location and viability, scale, and structural stability, cost is a significant consideration. Rooftop solar is by far the most expensive option for the installation of solar energy. Ground-mounted solar energy is the lowest cost form of new electricity generation in the U.S. today, and it is an important energy source for helping to keep rates low.
Our energy + ag projects provide access to land for local farmers and new revenue for both farmers and their suppliers. They also yield local pasture-raised meat, healthier soil, improved biodiversity, and happier livestock.
The panels provide the pasture-raised livestock with healthier forage as well as shade and protection from the elements—rain, hail, ice, and more.
Using the land for agricultural production protects it for the coming generations (unlike more permanent development, such as housing, a warehouse, or a manufacturing facility).
Our grazing management plans and protocols restrict animals from accessing waterways, following the USDA NRCS best practices.
Our solar projects are designed with reliability and the highest performance in mind over their 40- year useful lifetimes. This 40-year view means we design the entire plant and select equipment to last at least 40 years. Unlike some developers who may focus more on meeting minimum design criteria to reduce short-term costs, Silicon Ranch places more emphasis on reliability and the requirements of long-term ownership.
At the end of 40 years, our projects will either be repowered with new solar equipment or decommissioned. If a project is decommissioned, all system components will be removed, and the ground will be stabilized. All costs associated with the decommissioning process will be the responsibility of Silicon Ranch, not the community or local government. As Silicon Ranch will continue to own the property and will remain a member of the community, we are invested in ensuring that decommissioning will occur safely and responsibly, and that the site is in excellent condition.
Unlike virtually every other form of development, our land can be returned to other uses, including continued agricultural production, at the end of the energy facility’s useful life. After decommissioning, the land is an open pasture, now with increased fertility after 40 years of regenerative land management, ready for the next land use. A warehouse, manufacturing facility, or housing development cannot make this claim. That land is truly lost forever.
We are committed to leading industry advancements in responsible management of end-of-life solar equipment. Our commitment goes beyond recycling to repurposing, reusing, and fueling domestic manufacturing of solar panels for a circular solar economy.
To process-end-of life solar modules from Silicon Ranch projects, we have partnered with two pioneers in U.S.-based solar industry panel recycling. The first, SOLARCYCLE, offers an advanced platform that recovers approximately 95% of the value of solar panel materials, including glass and aluminum, as well as silicon, silver, copper, and aluminum. SOLARCYCLE recently opened a recycling facility in Cedartown, Georgia, where it can process approximately 10 million solar panels every year. The second, First Solar, recovers approximately 90 percent of materials. Recovered module materials are returned to the solar supply chain to help fuel the growing U.S. solar manufacturing industry with a domestic supply of materials essential to the production of new solar panels. For instance, recovered aluminum from the aluminum panel frames will be used to make aluminum frames for new solar panels.
Our industry leading recycling partnerships support our commitments to advance made-in-America solar manufacturing, a circular solar economy that reduces material use and recaptures “waste” as a resource to manufacture new panels, and economic development opportunities in communities across the country.
It is a misconception that ground-mounted solar farms decrease nearby home values.
Academic studies and appraisals examining sales prices of homes located in communities with solar farms in states across the U.S. show that utility-scale solar farms do not cause a decline in the value of neighboring properties, and in some cases may even have positive effects.
Solar farms are clean, quiet, low traffic, and safe. They provide significant tax revenues that can improve school district scores and do not pollute water or air. Solar projects do not present factors that are typically associated with a negative impact on property values, including noisy infrastructure (e.g., traffic, trains, airports), polluting infrastructure (e.g., busy roads, airports, oil and gas extraction), and cemeteries or funeral homes. Moreover, unlike other forms of development, land used for solar can be returned to other uses, including continuing to be in agricultural operations, at the end of the facility’s useful life. A warehouse, manufacturing facility, or housing development cannot make the same claim. That land is truly lost forever.
Silicon Ranch has commissioned matched-pair analyses in multiple states. These analyses compare nearly identical homes except for proximity to a solar farm, isolating the effect of the project. These analyses yield conclusions similar to the following conclusion from one recent Georgia appraisal, performed by a licensed third-party appraiser:
“Based on the data and analysis in this report, it is our professional opinion that the existing solar farm has no discernible impact on the value of adjoining, abutting, or otherwise nearby properties and that the use is in harmony with the area in which it is located.”
Yes, our projects follow and adhere to all local, state, and federal regulations, including fencing, electric codes, and signage regulations. Additionally, Silicon Ranch projects are monitored 24/7 so that any disturbance to the system can be quickly and safely acted upon.
Silicon Ranch never broadcast sprays herbicides or pesticides. We also refrain from spot spraying pesticides at our projects, unless required by state law where a project is located to mitigate noxious weeds determined injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops or, in some instances, to prevent small targeted amounts of vegetation from growing up into equipment that would interfere with solar generation and impede the facility’s ability to deliver power to serve homes and businesses in the long-term. When circumstances require that we use pesticides, Silicon Ranch is committed to minimizing their use, meaning that we only spot spray EPA approved herbicides—which are commonly used on timber farms—when required. We recognize that our responsibility as a good neighbor doesn’t stop at our fence line. Rather than viewing the land housing our solar projects as a liability, we recognize that land and vegetation are valuable natural resources and biological assets. When land and vegetation are managed properly, and in alignment with natural systems, we can revitalize soils, restore grassland ecosystems, increase biodiversity, sequester carbon, improve water quality, and build better solar facilities. Ultimately, through our Regenerative Energy approach, our goal is to leave the land better than we found it.
In summary, Silicon Ranch never uses vegetative growth inhibitors, nor do we blanket spray our sites with broad spectrum, non-selective herbicides. Herbicide use is limited to spot spraying of noxious weeds determined harmful to agricultural or horticultural crops and targeted spraying around inverter and transformer pads and the substation.
Once operational, our projects do not generate any noise that can be heard outside the facility fencing. The inverters have a quiet hum, not unlike that heard from a residential transformer, the small green electrical box in the neighborhood. Given compliance with required project setbacks from property boundaries and the location of the inverters within the fenced area of our projects the sounds from the project are imperceptible.
It depends on the project, but typically projects interconnect to existing transmission lines adjacent to the property.
No. Silicon Ranch constructs photovoltaic facilities, which absorb solar energy rather than reflect it, and therefore do not heat up.
There are companies that place solar panels on top of warehouses, commercial buildings, and residential houses, but this is not what Silicon Ranch does. The first part to consider is location – utility scale solar plants need to be near a viable transmission or distribution line to allow for connection to the grid to prevent needing long, expensive transmission lines. Additionally, consolidating the solar plant into a concentrated location allows for more efficient and effective connection to the grid.
The second part to consider is the size – large warehouses tend to be between 500,000 and 1,000,000 square feet, which is approximately 12 – 24 acres. Silicon Ranch aims to build utility scale solar plants that require larger areas to generate the amount of energy necessary. Another factor is that not all existing buildings were designed or built to hold the structural load of a solar plant on the rooftops.
While there are companies that build solar plants on landfills, Silicon Ranch does not do so because building solar plants on landfills presents permitting and construction challenges, environmental challenges, such as avoiding damage to the landfill capping system, and engineering challenges, such as potential settlement of the landfill area that can lead to structural damage to the solar generating equipment.
We aim to deliver power into the communities that the power will serve. Each community has a range of siting options available, including both rooftop and ground mounted. In addition to questions of scale and structural stability, rooftop is by far the most expensive option for the installation of solar energy. Ground-mounted solar energy is the lowest cost form of new electricity generation in the United States today, and it is an important energy source for helping to keep rates low.
This will depend on the time of day, but generally, no more than ten feet high. The panels at many of our newer sites rotate to follow the sun throughout the day. At the beginning and end of the day, the solar panels will be at their highest as they will be angled 60 degrees. Around lunchtime, the panels will be at their lowest.
The supporting structures that hold the modules are designed to withstand wind loads of 105-120 mph.
We take intentional steps in our facility design, operations, and land management to ensure that stormwater runoff from each site will be reduced or not increased from the conditions that exist when we buy the property.
Most of our projects are proposed at sites where the existing land is agricultural, wooded, or a combination of both. Once a solar plant is constructed, impervious surfaces (foundation pads, equipment, gravel roadways, etc.) cover a relatively minor amount of the land housing it. So, while solar panels will be installed on the land, the stormwater will flow off the panels and across the vegetation, allowing for the water to infiltrate and evaporate or be absorbed and replenish the aquifer. Moreover, our regenerative land management practices increase vegetative cover and build soil organic matter and looser soils, leading to more water infiltration, increased water retention, and less stormwater runoff.
The reduction in stormwater runoff peak flow improves downstream flooding issues. Existing natural resources (e.g., wetlands, ponds, streams, floodplains, etc.) and associated buffer areas are field identified, delineated, reviewed by the appropriate agencies, and marked during construction to be protected. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to temporarily or permanently impact a natural resource to facilitate a crossing location (e.g., access road-stream crossing). In these situations, we secure all necessary permits and we implement associated mitigative measures.
With 23 projects in Georgia operating, under construction, or contracted, Silicon Ranch’s solar projects in Georgia create more than 6,500 construction jobs. We maintain a strong preference for hiring locally and from the military veteran community.
Once a project is approved, our Project Delivery team will work with local partners, such as the chamber of commerce, to develop a plan to engage qualified, local firms and invite them to bid on the project.
Make sure to go to the Contact Us page and fill out the Contact form for Vendors. A project representative will get back to you with more details on available work and the timing of proposals.
There are also periodic announcements regarding job fairs for local residents interested in working on these projects.
There is some truck and trailer traffic during the construction of projects, including 18-wheelers delivering supplies during installation. Prior to and throughout construction, Silicon Ranch coordinates with the community to provide a more precise operation schedule as the construction of a specific project approaches. Once operational, our sites are remotely monitored and rarely visited except for periodic and routine maintenance. This is usually accomplished with 1-2 pick-up trucks or vans, depending on the crew.
Yes, we always prefer to hire qualified, local firms when possible.
Silicon Ranch has a systematic approach to health and safety and is committed to the goal of zero recordable safety incidents. Accordingly, the team gives every consideration to safety and control measures as part of overall project design. In addition to his 25+ years of environmental, health and safety experience, Silicon Ranch’s Director of Environmental, Health, Safety, and Security—Jim Barfield, CSP, CHST—has deep credentials to lead the company’s approach to safety. Along with qualifications that include BSCP certifications, FEMA incident command, accident investigation, and OSHA 30 qualifications, he is a veteran of the United States Army as a Health Specialist of Preventative Medicine, where he educated personnel on pathogen exposure, disease and occupational illness prevention, enforced military regulations governing sanitary practice and industrial hygiene, and investigated and controlled sources of pathogen and toxin exposure both inside and outside of United States borders.
Our projects across Georgia follow and adhere to all local, state, and federal regulations including fencing, electric codes, and signage. Additionally, our projects will be monitored 24/7 so that any disturbance to the system can be quickly and safely acted upon.
Once construction commences, external to the site, we post appropriate warnings in traffic ways to alert drivers of impending truck entrances to the roadway. Internal to the site there are controls in place to regulate vehicles and heavy equipment on site.
The materials and components that comprise a solar energy generating facility are not hazardous to humans. Silicon Ranch prioritizes protection of the environment.
There is noise associated with the construction of projects, but Silicon Ranch seeks to minimize any potential disruption by limiting construction activities to normal business hours. Once operational, the sites do not generate appreciable noise. The inverters have a quiet hum when the plant is generating during daylight hours, but the noise is not audible beyond the property line. The inverters are typically located centrally on the project site, far enough away from neighboring houses to be imperceptible.
A solar farm is a collection of interconnected solar panels that are strategically placed to maximize their ability to capture sunlight and convert it to electricity. Sunlight contains little packets of energy called photons. When photons from the sun reach the solar panels, it causes energy electrons within those panels to move and in turn create an electrical current. That electric current is then sent to an inverter which converts it from DC to AC. That power is then pushed out from the solar site onto the transmission lines where the electricity is then distributed to households and businesses.
Once operational, our projects do not generate any noise that can be heard outside the facility fencing. The inverters have a quiet hum, not unlike that heard from a residential transformer. We typically have 60’-40’ setbacks around the exterior of the site, with a 100’ setback from the interior parcel. Given the location of the inverters within the fenced array, sounds from these projects are imperceptible.
Solar modules do not cause glare in houses because modules are designed to absorb (rather than reflect) as much light as possible and are covered with a protective layer of anti-reflective matte glass.
No. Responsible solar development can actually enhance, not harm, wildlife habitat.
Silicon Ranch’s approach to land management has demonstrated that responsible solar development can improve wildlife habitat. For instance, we have seen a measurable increase in bobwhite quail populations at our Hazlehurst projects in Jeff Davis County, where the previous regime of intensive tillage and herbicide use for cotton-peanut-corn farms damaged bobwhite quail populations over the past 80 years. With a transition to zero soil disturbance after construction, perennial vegetation, and properly timed mowing events, these solar projects create ground nesting bird habitat where bobwhite quail and other wildlife thrive. These healthy populations then spill over into adjacent hunting properties, where neighbors share in the benefit of this work.
In addition, Silicon Ranch has developed and funded a private Gopher Tortoise Sanctuary in partnership with Georgia Department of Natural Resources on the company’s privately owned lands in Clay County. Working together, Silicon Ranch and the Department have relocated several tortoises from surrounding projects, and have room for more. In Lee County, Silicon Ranch intentionally designed in wildlife corridors at the DeSoto project site.
Silicon Ranch takes wildlife habitat very seriously, and our investment in this sanctuary and these wildlife corridors is testament.
Our Regenerative Energy platform is an outcome driven, third-party verified holistic standard of excellence for the design, construction, and operation of solar farms.
For our ecological monitoring, we contract with Savory Institute Ecological Outcome Verification Professional Monitors to take soil samples and perform the short- and long-term ecological monitoring.
We measure and third-party verify our ecological outcomes using the Savory Institute’s Land to Market Ecological Outcome Verification assessment methodology, which was developed in collaboration with leading soil scientists, ecologists, agronomists, and an extensive network of regenerative land managers around the world. This methodology measures the health of the land as a living system. In 2022, the Savory Institute certified land housing seven Silicon Ranch solar facilities as ‘regenerative’.
If we conduct a soil carbon project at a site, we contract with Earth Optics to measure soil carbon. The soil is also tested at four laboratories, including one for agriculture analysis, during our Geotechnical testing prior to construction.
Yes, our projects follow and adhere to all local, state, and federal regulations including fencing, electric codes, and signage. Additionally, Silicon Ranch projects are monitored 24/7 so that any disturbance to the system can be quickly and safely acted upon.
With 23 projects in Georgia operating, under construction, or contracted, Silicon Ranch’s solar projects in Georgia create more than 6,500 jobs.
Our goal at Silicon Ranch is to leave the land as good, if not better, than when we initially find it.
During operation, we maintain the land using regenerative land management practices that promote long-term, deep-rooted vegetation and faster plant growth cycles. This approach, which we implement under our Regenerative Energy® platform, not only multiplies the typical beneficial outcomes of a solar project but also creates new benefits, including healing degraded soils, improving ecosystem function, and increasing biodiversity of both plants and wildlife, as well as pollinator habitat.
Regenerative Energy came to be in large part as a result of an invitation from White Oak Pastures owner Will Harris to Silicon Ranch to visit his family’s world-renowned regenerative ranch in Bluffton. Harris introduced Silicon Ranch leadership to the methods of planned livestock grazing and other regenerative agricultural practices that his family had been deploying at White Oak Pastures for more than two decades. The result was a new partnership and Silicon Ranch’s innovative model for the solar industry, Regenerative Energy, our holistic approach to project design, construction, and land management that we now deploy across thousands of acres of land that we own and manage in the United States.
We recognize Georgia’s pride in the unique communities that make up the state and will implement the regenerative land management practices that are appropriate to each community to continue that legacy, in partnership with the local community and surrounding area.
Silicon Ranch aims to refrain from the use of any pesticides at our projects, unless required by state law where a project is located to mitigate noxious weeds determined injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops or, in some instances, to prevent small targeted amounts of vegetation from growing up into equipment that would interfere with plant performance and impede the facility’s ability to deliver power to serve homes and businesses in the long-term. When circumstances require that we use pesticides, Silicon Ranch is committed to minimizing their use, meaning that we only spot spray EPA approved herbicides – which are commonly used on timber farms – when required. We never broadcast spray herbicides or pesticides.
We recognize that our responsibility as a good neighbor doesn’t stop at our fence line. Rather than viewing the land housing our solar projects as a liability, we recognize that land and vegetation are valuable natural resources and biological assets. When land and vegetation are managed properly, and in alignment with natural systems, we can revitalize soils, restore grassland ecosystems, increase biodiversity, sequester carbon, improve water quality, and build better solar facilities. Ultimately, through our Regenerative Energy approach, our goal is to leave the land better than we found it.
We recognize Georgia’s pride in the unique ecosystems that make up the state and we are committed to designing, building, and operating our solar facilities in a way that continues that legacy, in partnership with communities throughout Georgia.
Our solar projects are designed with reliability and the highest performance in mind over their 40-year useful lifetimes. This 40-year view means we design the entire plant and select equipment to last up to 40 years. Unlike some developers who may focus more on meeting minimum design criteria to reduce short-term costs, Silicon Ranch places more emphasis on reliability and the requirements of long-term ownership.
At the end of 40 years, our Georgia projects will either be repowered with new solar equipment or decommissioned. If a project is decommissioned, all system components will be removed and the ground will be stabilized. All costs associated with the decommissioning process will be the responsibility of Silicon Ranch, not the community or local government. As Silicon Ranch will continue to own the property and will remain a member of the community, we are invested in ensuring that decommissioning will occur safely and responsibly, and that the site remains in excellent condition.
Silicon Ranch purchases solar panels for our projects with end-of-life in mind and we seek the most cost-effective and environmentally responsible path for recycling modules at their end of life.
We are committed to leading industry advancements in recycling. To process-end-of life solar modules from Silicon Ranch projects, we have partnered with two pioneers in US-based solar industry panel recycling: SOLARCYCLE, which offers an advanced recycling platform that recovers approximately 95% of the value of solar panel materials, including glass and aluminum, as well as silicon, copper, and silicon, and First Solar, which recovers approximately 90 percent of materials. Recovered module materials will help fuel the growing U.S. solar manufacturing industry with a domestic supply of materials essential to the production of new solar panels.
Our industry leading recycling partnerships support our commitments to advance domestic solar manufacturing, a circular solar economy that reduces material use and recaptures “waste” as a resource to manufacture new panels, and economic development opportunities in communities across the country.
The remaining part of the panel materials, which are made of plastics, do not have much value. SOLARCYCLE is committed to zero waste, however, and the company has found off-takers who will use the plastic for secondary applications to avoid sending panel materials to a landfill.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Silicon Ranch Solar Projects
