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County staff offer four zoning approaches for solar farms; expert urges decommissioning safeguards
Summary
An outside expert and county planners presented models for regulating utility-scale solar and battery storage, highlighted decommissioning and recycling practices, and proposed four conceptual approaches to setbacks and design while recommending targeted code updates rather than a full zoning rewrite.
Stephen Kalland, executive director of the NC Clean Energy Technology Center, told Chester County councilors Feb. 9 that utility-scale solar projects have grown in size and that modern photovoltaic panels are largely inert compared with earlier equipment concerns.
Kalland addressed community questions about decommissioning and recycling, saying panels, racking and wiring have scrap value (aluminum, steel, copper, glass), making abandonment unlikely and often making decommissioning "net-positive financially." He added that recycling technology is…
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