Community solar field planned in Georgetown

If all goes to plan, Georgetown will have one of the first community solar facilities in Sussex County. 

TurningPoint Energy and landowner Joe Schell are seeking a conditional use and site-plan approval for a community solar energy facility adjacent to Schell’s Sandhill Fields complex off Sand Hill Road in Georgetown.

Georgetown Planning Commission voted unanimously Oct. 19 to recommend the project be approved by town council.

Senate Bill 2, which passed by near-unanimous votes in the Delaware General Assembly in June 2021, eliminated barriers and created a regulatory process for community solar projects in which residents, businesses and government buildings can purchase credits in a solar array. 

The TurningPoint facility is planned for a 71-acre site to the south of Sandhill Fields. As part of the application, the applicant is seeking a lot-line adjustment, which would increase the property to 77 acres. The solar facility would be built in 17.5 acres of what is currently an open field.

“The beauty of this location, which just happened to be on my land, is that it’s very close to a substation,” Schell said. “Proximity to a substation makes it more economical than if it was a long distance. When you ship electricity, the longer the line, the less you get at the other end.”

A substation is about a quarter-mile away, he said.

Jordan Belknap, director of development with TurningPoint Energy, said SB 2 allowed for community solar energy facilities of up to 5 MW in size. The 2.4 MW solar array planned will allow Delmarva Power customers in the Georgetown area to subscribe to the project to receive a discount on their bills. Although anyone can sign up, Belknap said it’s particularly appealing for those who do not have the ability to add solar to their homes – low-income housing, people living in apartments, businesses.

“The best way I can explain it is that you buy a dollar’s worth of credit for 85 or 90 cents,” he said. “Therefore, you’re saving 10% to 15% on your electric bill.”

He said the Georgetown facility will produce about 5 million kWh per year, meaning it should be able to handle 750 to 800 subscribers. He said the energy generated each month is calculated and then divided among the subscribers. 

Tim Metzner of engineering firm Davis, Bowen and Friedel said the solar field’s perimeter would be enclosed by a 7-foot-high, chain-link fence with a 20-foot-wide swing gate for access. Minimal maintenance would require only a few trips to the field each year, he said.

Schell will charge TurningPoint Energy about $92,000 per year to lease his land. Schell has committed to donating that money to the Sussex Sports Center Foundation, which operates Sandhill Fields.

“It’s a nice way to produce revenue that we didn’t really envision when we started the project out there,” he said.

Schell said he didn’t have a plan for the land when he purchased it from a local bank.

“I bought it because it seemed like a good investment at the time,” he said.

But as growth continues in and around Georgetown, he said, he saw a need to add renewable energy.

“This is just another facet of what we’re doing in this nation and in this state, particularly,” he said. “We’re trying to take away fossil fuel plants like the one down at Indian River and replace it with renewable energy.”

He said there’s still a need for other energy sources such as nuclear power and gas-fired turbines.

“You have to have some way to deliver power to a community if the sun doesn’t shine,” he said. “This is an additive; it’s not a replacement. But it does take away from some of the worst forms of electric energy.”