Solar farm proposed for Gainesville area

Solar farm proposed for Gainesville area

A North Carolina company wants Prince William County to be home to its second solar farm in Virginia.

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.

A North Carolina energy company is planning a solar farm in northwestern Prince William County off US 15.

A North Carolina company wants Prince William County to be home to its second solar farm in Virginia.

HCE Waterloo Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Raleigh, NC-based Holocene Clean Energy, is seeking a special-use permit for the facility.

The roughly 232.3-acre property is at 2539 Logmill Road in the county’s northwestern corner off US 15 near the Prince William-Loudoun-Fauquier county lines. The land is owned by William and Elizabeth Latham.

The property is zoned for agricultural use and requires a special-use permit for a solar facility.

The project is one of three listed on the company’s website currently under development, with two in Virginia and one in Delaware. Holocene has an existing 100-acre farm in Charlotte County, Virginia, and several in North Carolina.

“Solar can be considered a form of agriculture – as the harvest is of the sun’s energy – that becomes a highly valued, marketable resource,” the application says.

The facility would sit on 125 acres of the property and produce 20 megawatts of electricity. It will be interconnected with the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative grid.

The project would include a 100-foot setback from all property lines and the height of solar panels would be capped at 9 feet.

The company expects a project life of 35 years. Afterward, the panels would be removed and the land would be returned to its original condition.

No public meetings have been scheduled on the application.

The post Solar farm proposed for Gainesville area first appeared on Daily Florida Press.

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