Pickens County may soon have solar power. Landowner Charlie Wright says he has plans for a solar farm. Last week he requested the Pickens Planning Commission rezone his 28 acres on the corner of Old Whitestone Road East and Highway 515 North in Talking Rock for this purpose. Currently the land is zoned as agricultural. Wright, however, requested the zoning designation be changed from agricultural to neighborhood commercial. The public and planning commission had the opportunity to hear more about the plan at the planning commission’s March meeting on Monday.

“Our zoning regulation doesn’t have a classification for a solar farm. So what we told Mr. Wright was that we were going to make a policy that anybody that wanted to put in a solar farm—no matter what they were zoned—would have to get a conditional use permit,”

Planning Commission Director Joey Low explained. According to real-estate.com, conditional use permits enable certain types of businesses to operate in residentially zoned areas. Churches, schools and home-based businesses, the site says, are all products of conditional use permits.

During this month’s planning commission meeting, Wright confirmed he was approached by a company that wanted to use the land for a solar operation.

“I don’t think it would bother anybody,”

Wright said. Here, though, several commission members expressed some concerns. Member Pam Holmes, for instance, asked if the panels that will be used for the solar farm would be non-reflective. Holmes’ concern was the reflection from the panels may interfere with the vision of pilots flying over the area during the day. Wright said the panels would be reflective, but explained the panels would be positioned at a 30 degree angle and would not interfere with aircraft. Holmes was also concerned if the panels could be seen from the highway. According to Wright, the panels will be out of sight from 515.

Mr. Wright’s 28 acre operation would be one the largest in North Georgia with the exception a solar farm in Blairsville, Georgia. In contrast, the Blairsville farm, owned by ESA Renewables, is only five acres.

So, what is a solar farm? According to residentialsolarpanels.org,

“Solar farms are farms that utilize the sun for the energy needed to run efficiently and with less cost to the owner. The suns energy is used by using mirrors and solar panels placed throughout the property to direct light to other areas of the farm where they can then be used for electricity.”

Solar farms, however, do not benefit homeowners directly. ESA Renewables in Blairsville explains that generally solar farms generate energy and sell the energy to utility companies. This reduces cost for utility companies, so companies do not have to use as much electric energy or spend money and resources to build additional power plants. In this way, the benefit to customers and homeowners is evidently a trickle-down effect. For example, ESA’s facility, which produces 1 megawatt per year, sells its energy to The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Customers then subscribe to TVA.

Despite the tarnished name of the solar industry, due to the Solyndra scandal, Pickens County Economic Development Director Gerry Nechvatal seems hopeful about the prospect of hosting a solar farm in the county.

“I think this is a desirable asset and shows the county is supportive of innovative industries,”

he told FYN in a recent email, adding,

“I believe it will also be a positive factor in the marketing efforts for new industries, especially those that would like to be located in areas that support advanced power generation.”

According to Planning Commission Director Joey Low, KPG Electric Company is expected to operate the solar farm on Wright’s land in Talking Rock. The commission approved the rezoning request.

“This is the fist step, getting it zoned,”

Wright said,

“The next step is actually turning the operation into a solar farm.”