One Brownfield Down, One Clean Solar Power Plant Up

The article highlights the growing trend of developing solar power plants on brownfield sites—contaminated or derelict lands—transforming them into valuable community assets while expanding clean energy capacity. A recent example is a 7.1-megawatt solar project in Acton, Massachusetts, which demonstrates how the U.S. solar industry is overcoming challenges associated with building on such sites. Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the Re-Powering America's Land (Re-PAL) program in 2010 to promote renewable energy development on contaminated lands, brownfield solar projects have matured into a specialized sector with tailored expertise and technology. A key innovation enabling these projects is the use of ground screw foundations, as employed by the contractor Distributed Energy Infrastructure and the racking firm Terrasmart in the Acton project. Ground screws can be twisted into various soil types, including rocky and uneven terrain, reducing environmental impact, installation time by over 30%, and saving significant site preparation costs. Terrasm