FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Thank you for your interest in Spring Valley Solar. If your question is not covered here, please submit a question on the contact page and we will be sure to respond.
Renderings of Soapstone Solar from Roadways
Soapstone Solar on Audley Farm was carefully sited to minimize or completely obscure any views of the project from roadways.
Take a Video Site Tour of Monarch Solar . . .
PROJECT LOCATION
Spring Valley Solar is located off Highway 43, just south of Tuscumbia. The Spring Valley Solar project will be situated 100′ from property lines, and a landscape buffer will be installed around the Belle Monte, 3-mile lane, and Steeplechase residences to minimize visual impacts to nearby residences”.
The land will remain privately owned be the original families and leased to the project under a long-term contract. A small portion of the land near the transmission line will be purchased and deeded to TVA to construct a substation.
SAFETY & OPERATIONS
Solar panels, also known as photovoltaic modules (PV modules), work by turning sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity. These panels are supported by some type of racking structure that can be fixed, or it may rotate on an axis. Solar panels are paired with inverters that convert the DC electricity into a more useable form of electricity known as alternating current (AC.) The AC electricity then passes through a transformer to ensure that the power is the appropriate voltage before it is sent to the electric grid.
When the solar facility is no longer efficient, the system will be decommissioned and the equipment removed, recycling everything that can be recycled, and returning the land to the condition in which it existed prior to the installation of the solar project. Solar has a minimal impact on the land, unlike fossil fuel power plants. When the project is removed, the land is returned to essentially its original state. Many landowners see leasing land for utility-scale solar projects as a form of land banking, as it has minimal long-term impact on the value of the land. Urban Grid assumes all responsibility for decommissioning and places a secure bond with the county in the event that project ownership should change in the future. This means that the county and its residents are NOT responsible for any costs for the removal of a project at the end of its useful life.
Solar panels themselves do not generate noise. The inverters, which convert electricity from DC to AC, produce a low, steady hum that does not extend beyond the property boundaries. Solar facilities are widely regarded as quiet neighbors, with inverter sound levels comparable to a residential air conditioning unit. At this project, inverters will be centrally located within the site, several hundred feet from surrounding property lines, further minimizing any potential for offsite sound.
Urban Grid utilizes the best available Photovoltaic solar (PV) panel technology for all of our utility-scale projects. These panels are dark in color and are treated with an anti-reflective coating. The purpose of solar panels is to absorb as much sunlight as possible to produce energy efficiently so the point of the panels is to be as minimally reflective as possible. Solar panels are generally less reflective than windows and have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for installation on and around airports across the country.
ENVIRONMENT & WILDLIFE
Utility-scale solar projects are closely monitored during construction to mitigate runoff and are designed to self-contain stormwater collection within the interior of the property. Stormwater management plans are a required part of the solar development process. These plans are prepared by professional engineers to ensure that projects do not contribute to erosion or flooding.
We follow all local, state and federal requirements to ensure our projects meet and often exceed guidelines to protect nearby neighbors and surrounding waterways.
Once operational, the use of perennial ground cover and elimination of annual tillage, irrigation, and fertilizer (in the case of farmland) allows the soil to absorb water and rejuvenate during the life of the project. A solar project has maximum ground permeability and is much better in terms of stormwater runoff than most other types of development.
The acreage used for Spring Valley Solar has been studied extensively by wildlife biologists and regulatory agencies to document any sensitive species or habitats which may be impacted. These studies are discussed in detail in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), including the degree of impact and mitigation strategies.
