Article from Site Selection Magazine

Fields of Plenty: The Promise of Solar Energy

By William Hearn, Director of Site Selection and Real Estate, Origis Energy

William Hearn is director of site selection and real estate for Origis Energy, an independent utility-scale solar developer. His 25 years of experience in site selection and real estate includes aspects of siting major industrial facilities, data centers, manufacturing plants, distribution operations, call centers and headquarters relocations.

Chances are high that if you’ve been traveling around various regions of the United States in the past few years, you have noticed a solar array where one was not previously. I have had a similar “ah-ha” moment.

You may have been struck by the fact that there are vast solar developments in more rural areas — where site selection for solar installations is more favorable, land is cheaper and larger land tracts are available.You might be further surprised to see that solar farms are popping up in most regions of the country. It’s not just your region.

Given that solar farms place minimal material demands on municipal services, more rural areas make sense from a siting perspective. As you glance back at the solar array you just passed, you might ask yourself the same question I did in Hattiesburg, Mississippi: “Why is this solar farm here, and what is driving the huge increase in solar energy over the past few years?”

I would argue that the solar power industry is one of the largest economic impact successes in rural America over the past decades.