This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for neologisms. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.Find sources: "Solar landfill" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Solar arrays on a full landfill in Rehoboth, MA

A solar landfill, also referred to as a brightfield, is a former landfill site that has been transformed into a solar array or solar farm. Landfills that are no longer in use are often called brownfields due to potential environmental concerns. By repurposing these brownfields into solar fields, they become known as brightfields.[1] In the United States, there are more than 10,000 closed or inactive landfills, which have the potential to accommodate over 60 gigawatts of solar installations[2][failed verification].

Development

Growth in solar installations on landfills[3]
Completed Brownfield renewable projects by State as of November 2023
  States with financial incentives
  States with streamlined permitting policies
  States with financial incentives and streamlined permitting policies
  States with no incentives
5  Number of brownfield completed projects in each State

In 2023 the largest solar landfill completed construction in Houston, Texas. The 50 MW solar array was installed on a 240-acre site that was previously an incinerator and landfill closed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1974.[4]

Landfill sites are often suitable locations for solar farms due to their existing infrastructure, including access roads, electric utilities, and systems for using landfill gas. Additionally, these sites are elevated and devoid of objects that could obstruct solar irradiance.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "U.S. Landfills Are Getting a Second Life as Solar Farms". TIME. June 2, 2022.
  2. ^ "The Future of Landfills is Bright". RMI.
  3. ^ https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-11/re-on-cl-tracking-matrix-112823.pdf
  4. ^ "How a Houston Solar Project Empowered a Working-Class Neighborhood". Playmakers.
  5. ^ https://www.energytech.com/renewables/article/21275410/where-trash-turns-into-treasure-the-future-of-solar-on-landfills
Categories