Sunnyside Energy Solar Farm On Reed Rd.

[Triton]

(If others think this should go to a different subforum, I totally understand... just let me know)

 

 

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Last week, Houston, TX Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that Sunnyside Energy, led by developer Dori Wolfe of Wolfe Energy LLC, has won a competition to be considered to repurpose a 240-acre former landfill in Sunnyside. Subject to meeting certain terms and conditions, the team will construct one of the largest urban solar farms in Texas., if not the largest.

In 2017, Mayor Turner joined C40 Reinventing Cities – a global competition for innovative carbon-free and resilient urban projects. Together with 13 other cities across the globe, underutilized parcels of land were identified for redevelopment. Through this competition, the Sunnyside Energy team of engineers, architects, neighborhood groups, and artists have created a vision to transform the unmaintained closed landfill into a beacon of sustainability and resiliency.

The preliminary design calls for the development of a 70-MW ballasted solar array that would:

• Generate enough electricity to supply about 12,000 homes
• Prevent potential future environmental hazards posed by the landfill
• Provide power discounts for low-income residents in the neighborhood
• Train and employ local labor
• Store and filter stormwater on the tract to help reduce flooding
• Include educational attributes at the restored site

 

https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2019/09/houston-mayor-selects-developer-for-70mw-urban-solar-array-in-revitalization-plan.html

 

[Triton]

5 minutes ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

Yes, this should be moved out of the Third Ward area forum to the Other Neighborhoods forum. Sunnyside is not even close to Third Ward. One is in the southeast Houston (Sunnyside), the other is isn't.

But this is a cool project for the neighborhood.

I mean it's really not that far from UofH but sure, I moved it. 

[Triton]

7 hours ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

But on this project...

I drove through Sunnyside last month exploring that side of town. There is plenty of renovations happening. A lot of new two-story homes and non-section 8 townhomes being built, increase usage of solar panels on homes, park revitalization, and saw Worthing High School was either renovated or had a new build out recently (maybe in the last 5 years). 

This area's proximity to NRG, 288, and the Beltway makes this a prime area for redevelopment and development. It's not going to happen overnight, it's going to be a long road ahead. But I can see in the next 10 to 15 years, that solar farms and more will further facilitate needed attention and improvements there.

 

 

That's great news. I'll have to check that area out.

[BeerNut]

Hopes rise that proposed solar farm will transform former Sunnyside landfill site

 

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“A landfill is that sort of rare piece of land where we don’t want to live on top of it or be right next to it, and the fact that you can reuse it for local clean electricity — that’s really exciting, it’s a great combination,” said Nathanael Greene, senior renewable energy advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

 

 

[Urbannizer]

https://www.c40reinventingcities.org/en/sites/holmes-road-landfill-1271.html

 

 

[2ndwardOG]

I have a property in the area. The area is beginning to go thru some changes. Eager to check this development out once it is completed.  

[hbcu]

if Houston does what they normally do for gentrifying areas near access such as a major Freeway it'll be warehouses

 

 

 

 

[Texasota]

That's not just a Houston issue - that's nationwide. With so much of an increase in online ordering (only accelerated by COVID 19), there's a neverending need for warehouse space. I'm not sure what the solution is - maybe encouraging retailers to convert their increasingly underutilized big box stores into primarily warehouses with a small showroom and pickup area?

[Urbannizer]

Sunnyside Landfill Solar Farm Lease Agreement

 

http://www.houstontx.gov/council/committees/qol/20201028/Sunnyside-Solar-Lease.pdf

[BeerNut]

A massive solar farm may be a boon to Houston's Sunnyside. Or not.

 

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The city project, being built by Wolfe Energy, would produce enough power for about 5,000 homes. Along with its planned hiking and biking trails and aquaponic farming space, the 240-acre development could be a boon to this low-income neighborhood, some residents say. But recent studies, including one from the University of Texas at Austin, show that solar farms depress nearby home values.

 

[zaphod]

Maybe depending on how this works out something similar could be done to the other forgotten landfills in Houston. For example at Kirkwood and Bisonnett in Alief there is the old Doty landfill. They tried turning it into a golf course but that never worked out.

[Urbannizer]

https://www.houston.org/news/houston-become-home-nations-largest-urban-solar-farm

In another step towards Houston growing its Energy 2.0 ecosystem and leading the energy transition, last week the Houston city council unanimously approved the lease of 240 acres of city-owned land in the Sunnyside neighborhood to Sunnyside Energy, LLC, a subsidy of Wolfe Energy.

The Sunnyside Solar Project, an innovative public-private partnership, is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2022. It will be the largest brownfield solar installation in the nation. "We applaud the actions of Mayor Turner and the City Council in taking this significant step. It is a strong vote of confidence for this impactful project,” Dori Wolfe, Managing Director of Sunnyside Energy LLC said in a recent press release.

The project will be anchored by a 50-megawatt ballasted solar array that will generate enough energy to power 5,000 homes and offset 120 million pounds of CO2 each year. "We are the energy capital of the world, and we’re now 

[Urbannizer]

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/innovation/04-26-22-houston-solar-sunnyside-solar-farm-approval-mayor-sylvester-turner/
 

A vacant landfill that for decades endangered and diminished Houston’s low-income Sunnyside neighborhood has gotten the green light for conversion into a solar energy farm.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Earth Day, April 22, that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality had granted a permit for the $70 million Sunnyside Solar Farm, which was originally announced last year.

The project will be anchored by 70 megawatts of solar panels installed across 224 acres. The farm will produce enough energy to power 5,000 to 10,000 homes. The project also will feature a 2-megawatt community solar installation, an education hub, and an agricultural center.
 

City officials say the project will be the largest urban solar farm in the country and will remove an estimated 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year.

[wilcal]

I saw an article the other day about how a bunch of solar projects are getting pushed back (1-2 years) because of a lack of available solar cells. I wonder if this will meet the same fate. 

[editor]

1 hour ago, wilcal said:

I saw an article the other day about how a bunch of solar projects are getting pushed back (1-2 years) because of a lack of available solar cells. I wonder if this will meet the same fate. 

I'd say it's likely in the short term, unless they've already got contracts for the panels.  Hopefully, once domestic manufacturing ramps up, it'll ease the crunch. 

Since I live in a city full of energy experts, I'll state first that I'm not an expert on solar energy.  But I believe the following factors play into this:

• Supply chain crunch that affects every other industry is making it harder to get panels out of China.
• The U.S. is cracking down on China dumping panels in America as fire sale prices.
• The U.S. is cracking down on shoddy Chinese panels that don't do what they're supposed to.
• The second-biggest supplier was Germany, but Germany and the rest of Europe need all those panels for their own energy projects.

I'm sure there are more learned people out there that can provide corrections and better context than me.

[Urbannizer]

https://www.prismrenderings.com/rendering-gallery?sunnyside-solar-farm

[DotCom]

What is going on with this?  This article from January said they are supposed to start construction by March.

"CleanCapital originally promised to begin work on the community solar array by the end of 2023. That deadline has been extended as the project seeks funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Icken said.  The company’s new deadline for beginning construction is March 21. Before that time, Icken said, developers hope to hammer out how locals can tap into solar power."

https://houstonlanding.org/developers-are-close-to-building-a-huge-solar-farm-in-sunnyside-now-comes-the-tricky-part/

[Buy-U-City]

After the terrible destruction of a 4000 ac. solar farm by a massive hail storm in Needville Tx, hopefully it's DEAD. Nothing environmentally friendly about that incident. The toxins leeching into the ground water from all the busted panels is a horrible nightmare.

Edited April 7 by Buy-U-City

[Ross]

2 hours ago, Buy-U-City said:

After the terrible destruction of a 4000 ac. solar farm by a massive hail storm in Needville Tx, hopefully it's DEAD. Nothing environmentally friendly about that incident. The toxins leeching into the ground water from all the busted panels is a horrible nightmare.

What toxins are leaching into the ground water in Needville? Modern panels have minimal amounts of toxic metals and chemicals. And no, it's not a horrible nightmare.

[sapo2367]

If you’re worried about toxic chemicals leeching into the soil in Houston, you got lot bigger problems than some solar panels in a field 🤣

[editor]

5 hours ago, Buy-U-City said:

After the terrible destruction of a 4000 ac. solar farm by a massive hail storm in Needville Tx, hopefully it's DEAD. Nothing environmentally friendly about that incident. The toxins leeching into the ground water from all the busted panels is a horrible nightmare.

Oh, wow.  "Toxins leeching into the ground water."  It would be scary, if true.

The most toxic thing about a solar panel is its protective coating, which is the same thing used to coat your car's windshield.

The whole "toxic solar panels" thing ranks right up there with "5G cell towers gave me measles" and "my brother's ex-wife's cousin's sister-in-law's mechanic got a COVID shot and grew a third head."

A little light reading: https://nccleantech.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Health-and-Safety-Impacts-of-Solar-Photovoltaics-PV.pdf

Man, look at all them toxins leaching out of them damaged solar panels.   

 

[Ross]

The Sunnyside site was a landfill and had an incinerator for many years. It is already a polluted site that cannot be easily remediated. Using it as a solar farm is an excellent way to use a brownfield site.

[Buy-U-City]

.

Edited April 8 by Buy-U-City

[Buy-U-City]

I guess if you have a vested interest in this project, you choose the studies that suite your agenda. Take the example below, it's obviously written by a pro nuclear power advocate.😃

The concerns about groundwater are not without data to back them up. The toxic chemicals used in panel production have leaked into the water supply before. In 2022, Popular Science reported on 4 solar farms that violated the Clean Water Act. In 2021, journalist Michael Shellenberger wrote an article for Forbes where he warned that solar panels produce 300 times more toxic waste than nuclear fuel.