BAKER COUNTY CIVIL ENGINEERING

Solar Farm in Baker County

The challenge with converting a tree farm to a solar farm is how to handle rain and storm water.  Roadways are a concern, too, but it is water primarily that requires the kind of expertise and precise calculations only a seasoned civil engineering firm can provide.
 
When it rains on a tree farm, the ground and vegetation absorb the water and runoff is minimal. Solar panels are horizontal and flat, built to absorb the sun via their surface area.  When it rains, the water runs off the panels as it does a roof.  the panels are even angles to prevent the water from sitting up on the panels and puddling.  But where does the water go next?
 
Standing water around the base poles of solar panels is not a good situation; what happens to electricity in the presence of water?
Solar Farm footprint according to Google Maps

The Solar Farm as it was – a tree farm.

Courtesy of Google Maps

When we were retained for a 700 acre tree farm conversion to a solar farm in Baker County. We started with a topographical map, among other items, so as to determine the most efficient but expedient use of land, focusing our efforts on the roadways and how to handle the water.
Were there ditches in place, and could they handle increased volume.  What about the pipes?  And if those pipes were hooking up to a main sewer or reservoir system, were modifications required?  How high do the roads/pathways need to be?
 
We worked closely, as we do on most projects, with environmental experts consulted on whether the farmland would rehabilitate, and with soil engineers who measure water absorption. We then pull all of the reports together and make a plan.  Once we know how much water will percolate vs. evaporate, we know our next steps.
 
Solar farms do not disturb the kind of habit that a tree farm sustains. You would imagine it would, but it does not… over time. The panels sit in rows on wooden poles. Grass grows freely around the poles and the wildlife re-habitats the property soon after the whole thing has settled. The grass is mowed twice a year, and that does not appear to bother the wildlife either. The logging roads were already in place.

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It is only when a project goes wrong somewhere that most average consumers can fully appreciate the value of what civil engineers provide.  Take this solar farm project in Essex county, VA, where extended rain undermined all of the sediment traps, diversion ditches, damps and temporary basins, causing water in various rivers to turn brown. (February 2018)

Sediment run off was created when consistent inclement weather prevented vegetation from growing round the sloped areas, it seems, leading to soil erosion. Additionally, the retention ponds were eliminated too soon, given that there was more rain than the property could handle.

Photo by Magda Ehlers from Pexels

What is a Solar Farm?

It is more than the panels on your roof, or a few acres of metallic looking panels called solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that attract the sun and turn the energy into green, clean electricity at significant scale to feed into a municipal or county grid.

The panels contain inverters that convert the DC electricity captured from the sun and turns it into the alternating current (AC) that powers our lives.

The use of “farm” means that it is a multiple acre’d installation. A few panels on a rooftop or in a community tends to referred to as a solar garden.

 

Florida Power and Light – the landowner and distributor of the power generated from the farm – worked closely with neighboring residents to assure them that the impact to their environment would be minimal at worst and likely an improvement.
 
For one thing, the roads are being widened. The sewer mains are being expanded.
 
Yet, a solar farm has no need for a labor force. It is managed remotely. There will be no workers or additional traffic to inconvenience local residents.
 
 

SOLAR FARM SCOPE OF WORK

Our mandate was to ensure that we treated any and all wetlands appropriately, and then it was a matter of coordinating with 3rd parties to guide the property through permitting and construction.

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solar farm in Orlando

The Magic Kingdom Goes Green

When Disney World starts harnessing solar power you know this is the future. According to a New York Times article in October 2018,  “The Walt Disney Company is just months away from generating enough renewable solar energy to fully power two of its four parks at the Walt Disney World Resort in central Florida.”

If only Walt knew how far his legacy would reach into the future and pull us all forward!

 

 

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