Days Corner Solar Project - Longroad Energy

Project Description

Longroad Development Company, LLC, proposes constructing a distributed generation solar energy facility, the Days Corner Solar Project, in Monmouth, Maine.

The project will produce 4.95 Megawatts (alternating current) of clean power, avoiding emissions of approximately 7,100 tons of CO₂ per year, which equates to removing 1,400 cars from Maine’s roads every year. Longroad has contracted this project with Bath Ironworks, a major Maine employer, that will reduce their costs and help maintain a competitive edge and secure Maine jobs. The town of Monmouth will realize an additional source of tax revenue with no additional burden to town services.

Recent News

2/12/21 Planning Board Questions & Answers

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Project Details

Developer	Longroad Development Company, LLC
Location	483 Ridge Road, Monmouth, Kennebec County, Maine
Project Size	4.95 Megawatts (alternating current)
Environmental Benefits	Avoided emissions: ~7,100 tons of CO₂/year, ~ removing 1,400 cars/year off the road¹
Total Project Area	~36 acres of solar equipment within fence line (~23% of a 158-acre parcel)/ ~55 acre leased area (additional acreage is for managing vegetation for shade impacts beyond fence line)
Expected Construction Start	Summer, 2021
Employees During Construction	~30 jobs
Development Costs	~$250,000 spent with Maine businesses
Project Cost	~$5 million in taxable new property
Property Tax Revenue	~Monmouth will benefit from property tax revenue generated by the Project over its 20‑year lifetime. See the FAQ below for more detail.
Community Charitable Contributions	$5,000/ year (totaling $100,000) over 20 years

¹Calculation made through the EPA greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator

Photo Simulations

Photo credit: tjd&a Landscape Architects and Planners

Site A, Existing

Site A, Project After Screening

Site B, Existing

Site B, Project After Screening

Site C, Existing

Site C, Project After Screening

Project Information Downloads

Site Plan

Visual Simulations

Screening Plan

FAQ

2/12/21 Planning Board Questions & Answers
Introduction

At the July, 2020 Town Election, residents of Monmouth passed solar-specific amendments to the Monmouth Comprehensive Development Ordinance (CDO) with overwhelming support. The Select Board’s recommendation at that time was “pass”. These solar-specific permitting standards address the following:

Safety: The Fire Chief will review the application and recommend approval or denial.

Visual impacts: The Planning Board must find that the Project has minimized visual impacts and adequately screened abutting properties.

Glare: Solar panels must be placed to minimize glare onto nearby properties and roads.

Farmland preservation: The Project cannot be sited on prime agricultural soils to the extent practicable.

Clearing and vegetation maintenance: Natural vegetation must be maintained to the extent possible, vegetation management shall be done by livestock grazing to the extent practicable, native, pollinator-friendly seed mixtures shall be planted, etc.

Decommissioning: The Project must be removed and the site restored within 150 days of the end of the Project’s life. The Project must post a bond or other financial guarantee that will cover decommissioning costs.

In addition to these solar-specific standards, the generally applicable standards under the CDO regulate the following potential Project impacts:

Aesthetic, cultural and natural values: The Project must not have an undue adverse effect on the scenic or natural beauty of the area, aesthetics, historic sites, significant wildlife habitat, or rare and irreplaceable natural areas.

Visual Resources: The Project must be planned, sited, and constructed to minimize negative impacts upon scenic views and prominent landmarks identified in the Monmouth Comprehensive Plan.

Screening: All commercial development must be effectively screened, for example by coniferous vegetation, from the view of adjoining residential properties.

Noise: No development shall be permitted to produce noise which, by character of its loudness or frequency, constitutes an irritant to neighboring uses or the general public.

And many more: The CDO also requires compliance with standards governing stormwater, ground water, surface water, wetlands, erosion and sedimentation, technical and financial ability of the applicant, transportation impacts, fencing, lighting, signage, wildlife habitat, archeological and historic features, air quality, public safety, landscape integration, and more.

Accordingly, Monmouth’s existing CDO, including the recently enacted solar-specific amendments, contains stringent standards that address every conceivable impact that the Project may have.

In addition, the project must meet an even higher set of standards through a Site Location of Development (SLODA) permit with the Maine DEP. Our SLODA permit application contains 26 chapters and hundreds of pages of analysis of the project’s impacts from wetlands to wildlife.

Q: What are panels made of and how will they be disposed of?

A: The panels are made of heat strengthened glass, aluminum, and a very thin semiconductor layer that is thinner than a human hair. This semiconductor layer is made of cadmium telluride (CdTe), a highly stable, non-water-soluble molecule with a melting point of more than 1000 degrees celcius. The CdTe is encapsulated within laminate layers, then sandwiched between two heat-strengthened glass sheets. Should a panel crack, the internal materials are encapsulated within the laminated layers. The fate of CdTe in broken solar module pieces subjected to rainfall was tested by Steinberger*, who found no critical increase in soil cadmium concentrations after 1 year of leaching in an outdoor experiment with actual rainwater. Of course a cracked panel would never remain in the field for nearly that long given Longroad’s around the clock monitoring and schedule of regular inspections.

For comparison, cadmium is an element that is found in soils in Maine and is taken up into the crops grown on agricultural lands. The rate of breakage (cracking, not panels breaking apart) at a typical 5 MW site ranges from 0-5 panels per year.

Attached is a 2019 study prepared by The Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research evaluating the environmental and health risks associated with CdTe solar panels that concludes that panels utilizing this technology pose little to no risk under normal operations conditions and foreseeable accidents such as fire, breakage, and extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes, tornadoes).

All non-functioning panels will be promptly replaced during the operational period and recycled at a facility that provides a certificate as proof that the entirety of each panel is recycled. All hazardous materials, including CdTe and lead will be reclaimed for re-use.

^*Steinberger, Hartmut, “Health, safety and environmental risks from the operation of CdTe and CIS thin-firm modules,” Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 99-103, 1998.

Q: What happens at project end of life?

A: Decommissioning will consist of:
- Physical removal of all Project components including panels, associated racking, inverters, tracker foundations, perimeter fencing, Collector, and POI.
- Disposal of solid and hazardous waste in accordance with local, state, and federal waste disposal regulations.
- Stabilization or re-vegetation of the site as necessary to minimize erosion. Native, pollinator-friendly seed mixtures will be used to the maximum extent possible. Areas that were previously used for agricultural activity will be seeded with a cover crop or perennial forage mix.
- As a condition of our permit, Longroad must post a bond in the amount of $900,700 for the life of the project to cover the full cost of decommissioning and returning the site to its original state. Bonding is revisited every five years to account for any changes in cost (e.g. labor, material, and inflation).
Q: Why can’t sheep be used?

A: Currently there are constraints set by the Maine DEP related to stormwater runoff and phosphorus export that prevent grazing sheep. Longroad is working to develop guidelines with the DEP that would permit the use of sheep at solar sites in Maine in the future.

In the meantime, Longroad is committed to the following measures to retain agricultural uses.
- Native vegetation and pollinator species will be utilized under and around the solar photovoltaic area. Some of the plantings will be selected to support butterflies and other insects that rely on specific host plants for their survival.
- The long-term vegetation at the Monmouth Solar site will stabilize soil, decrease run-off, reduce the potential for erosion. This will improve overall soil and water health compared to current uses and ensure conditions are suitable for agriculture upon decommissioning of the project.
- The project has been designed to encourage dual use. Outside of the fenced portion of the site, the landowner will continue to farm the land.
Q: How does the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) plan address the following:
- Cameras
- Tree maintenance for trees higher than 20 feet
- Herbicide/pesticide use
- Panel damage
A: The O&M plan has been refined to confirm the following details:
- No video cameras will be used
- Vegetation management will ensure trees will not grow higher than 20 feet
- No pesticides or herbicides will be utilized for vegetation abatement
- All panels that are damaged or cease to function during the operational period will be recycled at a facility that provides a certificate as proof that the entirety of each panel is recycled. All hazardous materials, including CdTe and lead will be reclaimed for re-use
How will Monmouth benefit from the project?
1. Long-Term Revenue for the Town of Monmouth
  - Although Maine law currently exempts smaller, under 5 MW, solar projects that participate in Maine’s net energy billing program,¹ the Maine Constitution requires the Legislature to reimburse municipalities for at least 50% of the property tax revenue lost in the previous calendar year because of property tax exemptions.² Thus, the Town will benefit from property tax revenue even though the Project is exempt.
  - Based on initial estimates of the Project’s cost for property tax purposes and the Town’s current mil rate of 18.15, the State reimbursement is estimated to be at least tens of thousands of dollars annually and hundreds of thousands of dollar over the life of the project.³
  - Longroad and the solar industry are also working to pass legislation that will establish a new excise tax on solar projects to provide an additional funding source to the State, thereby helping to ensure long-term funding for the local property tax exemption reimbursement.
  - Finally, because the Project will not burden the Town’s services like schools or police and fire protection, the new revenue flows to the Town’s bottom line and will lower property taxes for all taxpayers.
2. Maintain Ridge Road in Agriculture and Open Space
  - The Project’s panels will cover ~36 acres of land, set back more than 270-feet from the road at their closest location, allowing the landowner to continue cultivating substantial portions of his land. In addition, the entire paneled area will be planted and maintained as a meadow, with a diverse mixture of native vegetation, including flowering pollinator species.
  - The Project will allow the landowner to realize a return on his investment in the land without having to resort to more impactful development like house lots.
3. Annual contributions to organizations benefiting Monmouth residents
  - Longroad will make annual contributions of $5,000 per year during the 20-year operating term of the Project (a total of $100,000) to organizations like “Full Plates Full Potential,” which works to eradicate hunger among local schoolchildren, and to charitable organizations which help Monmouth families with their utility bills.
4. Local schools can use the project as a learning opportunity
  - Longroad will collaborate with Monmouth’s schools to leverage the project in support of educational programming.
What are the benefits of solar to our region and the State of Maine?
1. Clean energy will help lead Maine’s post-pandemic economic recovery
  - Project construction will generate thousands of new jobs, from the building trades to utility line-workers to the maintenance technicians needed to operate and maintain the sites.
  - The development phase of a solar project like the one proposed for Monmouth supports a diverse array of professional disciplines in Maine including real estate professionals, environmental engineers, surveyors, civil engineers, electrical engineers, and permitting consultants.
  - Clean energy from the Project will be utilized by a large Maine-based business which employs thousands, reducing their costs and helping them maintain a competitive edge which leads to more Maine jobs.
2. Clean energy has measurable environmental benefits for the Town of Monmouth, the State of Maine, and the Country
  - The Project will create environmental benefits which equates to removing 1,400 cars from Maine’s roads every year for the 20-year life of the Project.
How many other projects of this size can be built in Monmouth?
- Few, if any; CMP’s system is self-limiting, so the number of solar projects that can connect to the grid in Monmouth and adjacent towns is limited by the capacity of the Monmouth substation.
Why is the project located in Monmouth? Why on the Ridge Road?
- The Project, and others like it are being developed in response to a bipartisan solar energy bill (L.D. 1711) to reform Maine’s solar policies and increase access to clean energy.
- The Project site was selected for its proximity to CMP’s Monmouth substation and its suitability for solar energy generation. The Project will feature solar panels installed on ground-mounted racks which track the sun’s progress (single axis trackers) and will interconnect to CMP’s electrical lines along Ridge Road.
What steps have been taken to minimize the potential effects of the project?
- The project was sited following extensive environmental studies (e.g. wetlands, streams, vernal pools, deer wintering area mapping, and others) to avoid sensitive areas for wildlife and minimize the impact of the Project. The project will have no direct impact to wetlands or streams.
- The landowner plans to continue farming the land surrounding the Project, thus preserving the open space. An existing stand of forest to the east and a new screen of native trees and other vegetation that will be planted to the west will minimize the view of the Project from roads and other public viewpoints.
- Longroad has engaged extensively with neighbors on its screening plan, which has led to moving both the panels and vegetative screening buffer further away from Ridge Road to preserve the long-distance vistas while limiting visibility of the Project. Native plantings were selected to blend into the surrounding landscape.
- The project will require both state (Site Location of Development Act or SLODA) and local permitting review. In July, 2020, Monmouth enacted by town vote a rigorous solar ordinance amendment in addition to the Comprehensive Development Ordinance (CDO) that requires the project to meet standards for safety, visual impacts, glare, farmland preservation, aesthetic/cultural/natural values, screening and noise, in addition to a multitude of environmental standards.
How will the project impact my property value?
- Studies have examined the impact of solar arrays across the country on local residential values. Study findings have dispelled the myth that solar farms reduce the value of nearby real estate.

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