One of the major blows to solar panels is the land they occupy compared to the electricity they generate. However, if there is a ready-made open land near the town, it is guaranteed that it will not be used for any other purpose?

Facts have proved that landfills are becoming the main real estate for solar power plants. A non-profit organization believes that the United States only needs to build solar power plants in landfills to increase the US’s solar capacity by 63 gigawatts, or about 60 gigawatts. %.

Solar energy companies are building these landfill solar farms across the country, although they bring greater engineering and economic challenges, and then build one on flat ground, but cover their landfills and landfills in a barren state. Brownfield renovation has become an attraction for the community to provide new services.

For example, Nexamp’s Solar Star Urbana Landfill community solar farm covers nearly 40 acres and is located in a covered landfill, which means that the landfill does not accept solid waste and is "capped" with concrete or other materials. To prevent rainwater from infiltrating and decomposing waste below.

It has nearly 14,000 solar panels, which can provide low- and middle-income residents with 5.2 megawatts of clean energy. If they sign up to use solar energy, their energy bills will be discounted.

More: The largest farm growing crops under solar panels proved to be a harvest crop for agricultural photovoltaic land use

IKON Environmental Energy is building a 70-megawatt solar farm in Houston, Texas, called the Sunnyside Energy Project, which will power 12,000 homes and is located in a 240-acre landfill with methane leakage Above the site, the landfill will also provide community functions, such as electric car charging points, biogas digesters that convert certain waste sources into green energy and fertilizer, and a community garden.

Annapolis, Maryland also has an 80-acre landfill with 55,000 panels that can generate electricity for 2,500 people.

Building a solar farm in a landfill is not the easiest thing. On the one hand, the traditional method of fixing the panels to concrete pillars buried in the ground is impossible because it will damage the landfill cover. Currently, this also puts landfill solar panels beyond the scope of current technologies that allow panels to follow the sun.

However, there are also easier aspects. For example, underserved communities usually live near landfills, and cheap local electricity access (solar energy is usually subsidized or rewarded) can help them save money.

Related: To save their Arctic homeland, this First Nations installed a 300KW solar power station

In addition, there is no risk of high land prices, nor is there a bidding war for other people who might want to use the original grassland for other purposes.

There are more than 10,000 closed or covered landfills across the country, of which 4,000 may be turned into solar power plants immediately.

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This is a step in the right direction. However, unless humans can reduce the number of people living on this rock, this is not a solution. This is just a stopgap measure. What is needed is to reduce the population.

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