Community solar farm could be coming to Crystal Lake
City council will make a final vote on the project on March 19
Developers are looking to build a 46-acre community solar farm along Ridgefield Road in Crystal Lake that could bring solar energy options to residences and businesses.
The 4.99-megawatt, alternating-current solar farm would be located just west of the MAC Athletic Complex near Route 14, sitting about 600 feet away from the road and 100 feet from the nearby wetlands, TurningPoint Energy development manager Gloria Foxman said.
Community solar allows homeowners, renters, businesses and anyone else who cannot install their own solar panels to sign up for solar energy through ComEd.
The project has the potential to offset 7,991 metric tons of carbon each year, which is equivalent to removing 1,778 cars from the road, TurningPoint Energy director of marketing and communications Christy Scott said.
The Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday gave a thumbs up to the proposal and recommended the city council grant the special-use permit request without objection. Three of the seven commissioners were absent.
A fabric-wrapped fence and landscaping would surround the site from all sides, Foxman said.
TurningPoint Energy plans on planting native and pollinator plants around and under the 15-foot-high solar panels, Foxman said.
“Those species can improve soil health and erosion,” she said. “You’re not constantly farming. You’re just letting those plants grow their long, deep root systems.”
The Crystal Lake City Council will vote on the project at its March 19 meeting.
If approved, construction would take about a year and create at least 50 local jobs during the build, Foxman said.
Developers conducted studies on noise, environmental, glare and heat impacts. All found to be within code compliance or having no impact at all, according to city documents.
Neighboring resident June Pedersen expressed concerns that solar panels could impact local weather and leak heavy metals into the soil. She said she has read studies that solar farms can increase ground temperatures and cause extreme weather.
“I don’t need a tornado to land on my horse farm,” Pedersen said.
Foxman said the pollinator plants should help decrease the local temperature and improve water quality and smaller solar farms shouldn’t be able to impact the weather.
“I am aware about concerns of solar technology from 10 or 20 years ago, but the panels we are working with are much higher quality than what perhaps people have read about in the past,” she said. “There is no toxic material inside them.”
The solar farm could generate more than $650,000 in property tax revenue over 25 years, according to city documents.
The initial lease is 20 years with opportunities to extend the lease, Foxman said.
The Colorado-based company is renting out a portion of the vacant land, and the owner could develop the remaining 32 acres for other commercial uses.
TurningPoint recently won approval to build similar solar farms in Yorkville and Sandwich.