FAQ

Photovoltaic (PV) panels use the sun’s energy to produce direct current (DC) electricity that flows to on-site electrical inverters that turn DC electricity into alternating current AC electricity which then flows to the electrical grid for consumers to use.

Solar farms are among the least disruptive of any electricity-producing technologies. This Project’s impact on the soil will be limited to the spots where steel beams are driven into the ground to support the solar panel arrays and foundations built to hold inverter stations and transformers. The land used by the solar farm can be returned to full agricultural production after the planned life of the Project. We also plan to work with landowners and local farms to include agriculture on the site, “Agrivoltaics”, through the addition of sheep grazing. This allows for agricultural activity to continue on site while ensuring vegetation management practices are sustainable and beneficial to the site in the long term.

The solar tracking arrays are built to robust ASCE (American Society for Civil Engineers) standards. In the event of extreme weather and high winds, operational procedures will be implemented to stow the trackers in a direction to best withstand high winds.

The type of solar PV technology to be used by the Grapevine Solar Project has been in use and continually refined since it was invented in 1954. Over 76,000 MW of solar PV generating capacity is currently installed in the US. Solar projects accounted for 40% of all new electricity generation built in the US in 2019.

The Grapevine Solar Project will provide annual contributions to the county tax base. The solar farm’s activities are projected to create millions in fiscal benefits for the county and the state during the installation phase of the project. The ongoing operation of the solar facility is projected to produce annual significant new local revenues. In addition, Operations and Maintenance will create additional jobs which we seek to locally source.

The proposed Grapevine Solar Facility is a 200-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generation facility to be built in Lafayette County, Missouri. The solar farm will consist of PV solar arrays, access roads, and electrical interconnection to the utility grid.

To assure the safety of workers and the community, the solar facility will be designed and installed in conformance with ASCE (American Society for Civil Engineers) standards. These standards promote safety, reliability, productivity, and efficiency across all areas of design and construction of energy systems.

The project will be configured as a ground-mounted solar farm with photovoltaic (PV) panels on galvanized steel tracker racking structures. It will include rows of single-axis trackers, oriented in a north-south direction, that rotate the PV panels from east to west following the sun’s daily path, optimizing the amount of power the solar farm can produce.
The tracker structure is low-profile, approximately 10 feet high above grade at the tallest point (about the height of corn stalks).

The Grapevine Solar Facility layout has not been finalized yet but it is planned to be built within Lafayette County.

Grapevine Solar will document the current condition of the roads prior to construction then restore the roads back to the same condition or better as part of construction follow-up. These costs will be borne by Grapevine Solar, not the community. A Road Use and Maintenance Agreement with Lafayette County will be in place in order to address these issues.

Grid-connected larger utility-scale projects can provide electricity consumers, local utilities, and power system operators with inexpensive solar energy when they need it the most – during high-cost summer peak demand. Such projects also achieve economies of scale enabling more cost-effective production of electricity. The need for large quantities of solar panels and related equipment additionally provide incentives for attracting solar panel manufacturing facilities to the region.

Lafayette County has good solar resources and land availability for a successful solar energy project project. The County also has adequate existing transmission lines, so no new transmission lines will be required for this project to operate. We will also work with landowners to retain agricultural heritage in Lafayette County at the Grapevine Solar Energy Facility.

A common misconception about solar photovoltaic (PV) panels is that they inherently cause or create “too much” glare, posing a nuisance to neighbors and a safety risk for pilots. Light absorption rather than reflection is central to the function of solar PV panels to absorb solar radiation and convert it to electricity. Solar PV panels are constructed of dark-colored (usually blue or black) materials and are covered with anti-reflective coatings. Modern PV panels reflect as little as two percent of incoming sunlight, about the same as water and less than soil or even wood shingles. The Project will be conducting Glare Studies that will be made part of the permit application.

This project is expected to significantly increase property tax revenue for the locality than what is currently collected. The increased revenue will improve local governmental services like schools, which improvements have a positive effect on property values.