PINEY TWP., Pa. (EYT) — A former chicken farm site in Piney Township near Sligo may one day be home to a 20-megawatt solar farm that will have an up to a 40-year lifespan.
“This project is in its infancy at this stage,” said Carl Siebing (pictured below), senior project developer for BW Solar, on Monday at a meeting of the Clarion Rotary Club.
“For a typical project, I’d say that process is between three and five years long.”
The company signed a preliminary exploratory option with Joel and Mabel Reinford for 129.8 acres of land along McCall Road in Piney Township. The lease option agreement for the renewable energy project was filed in the Clarion County Register and Recorder’s Office.
Siebing explained to the rotary club members the basic process used in creating solar power.
“Photovoltaic is a passive form of energy collection,” said Siebing. “It’s essentially just the sun shining on the surface, and instead of creating heat, it creates electricity. You have these arrays that produce DC current. It goes through inverters that convert the DC current into AC current, which is what we use in our outlets.
“It goes from there to a transformer that adjusts that current and makes it suitable to be injected into the grid after which point it goes to anyone’s homes that are connected to the grid.”
The extensive number of reviews, meetings, and approvals required to account for the time frame until the project receives final approval.
“Once we have site control, the necessary documentation will hopefully be lined up to also comply with the utility for an interconnection. The utility usually has a very long process, at least at this scale, and to make sure that the electrical design of our system fits into the existing infrastructure.
“It’s a really complicated process to get through permitting for that. There are different phases with the utility company and a whole host of documentation that needs to be provided.
“One of which is site control. This product is proposed to connect to the existing three-phase line. And that three-phase line connects and turn to the substation that in turn sends that electricity out elsewhere into the communities to use.”
There are also other developmental and environmental permits needed at all levels: local, state, and federal.
Asked about environmental concerns, Siebing said there is no active waste on any of these sites.
“There’s no leaching into the groundwater, and there are no chemicals that can spill into the environment.”
Local relationships important
“It is important that we have a relationship with the local community and understand what the local needs are. (It’s important) that we have a line of communication open.
The company wants to be able to adjust its plans, and they typically have a community meeting ahead of any public hearing, according to Siebing.
“I’d like to have one meeting ahead of the public hearings, and sometimes when in between the public hearings, you have one public hearing with the Clarion County Planning Commission and then eventually with the Clarion County Commissioners and others.
“If we’re planning to be neighbors for about 40 years — to be good neighbors when it comes to the impact on local neighborhoods — we’ll keep upholding those values throughout the lifespan.”
