Solar FAQ

Energy generated by the solar facility feeds directly into the electric transmission grid. From the grid, energy goes where the demand is needed throughout our service territory.

Renewable energy development like solar helps promote economic growth in rural communities. Solar helps attract new businesses looking to achieve sustainability goals and benefit from lower-cost renewable energy. Furthermore, construction of solar projects creates new job opportunities for local labor.

Numerous local and national studies have shown that clean energy projects do not reduce nearby property values. We’ve published an article titled "Does Solar Energy Impact Property Values?" This article goes into more detail about what we currently know about solar projects and property values.

We develop a decommissioning plan for each project that addresses the removal of equipment and allows the owner to determine how they’d like to use their land going forward (e.g., return to farming, keep the land as pollinator habitat or identify new uses). All equipment is recycled using the best technology available at the end of the lease.

On average, one megawatt of solar energy needs about five to seven acres of land. The total size of each project is evaluated individually based on several factors, including:

• Land contiguity
• Transmission capacity

When we site our solar projects, we look for the following criteria:

• Close to an electrical transmission circuit.
• Typically rural areas with low population density.
• Away from residential land.
• Constructable land based on topography and access.
• Low environmental concerns. We avoid wetlands, waterways and sensitive habitats.

Similar to a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), solar projects are typically planted with native grasses and wildflowers that improve soil and water quality and can be an important habitat for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, which make nearby farms more productive. Solar projects will create the same benefits of implementing a CRP. Check out this article from Ag Week for more information.

Many farmers are interested in diversifying their income. Leasing some of their property to solar projects creates a guaranteed source of income that lasts decades. Solar projects complement agriculture by helping farmers protect their way of life and bank the land for future agricultural use. In addition, our solar lease agreements include a binding commitment that we return the land to the owner in the same or better condition.

We have not used eminent domain to acquire land for any of our proposed solar projects in Wisconsin and have no plans to use it in Iowa. We work with willing landowners and farmers who voluntarily choose to participate. We then work collaboratively with them to develop renewable energy projects that work in harmony with their land and the environment.

In this video, hear from a landowner at our Beaver Dam Solar Project and why he decided to lease his land to Alliant Energy.

Solar facilities are very quiet, and very little noise can be heard outside of the project boundary. Single-axis trackers make little noise when they move with the sun throughout the day. There will be little to no glint or glare impacts. Panels are designed to absorb as much sunlight as possible to generate maximum power.

Solar projects do not create electromagnetic fields that could be measured outside of a project. Inverters used in solar facilities generate electromagnetic fields that are similar to household appliances, many times weaker than those created by normal power lines. The weak electromagnetic fields from solar equipment can only be detected within around 150 feet of a solar farm’s inverters, which will not reach close to the project boundary. See our article titled "Solar Energy Myths: EMF Radiation and Sound" for more information.

Solar projects do not pose a threat to wildlife. Wildlife studies are an important part of solar development. Trained experts study proposed sites to ensure that solar development minimizes impact to wildlife.

Fencing is installed around the perimeter of the solar site to help keep larger mammals like deer away from any wiring within the arrays. Solar projects also provide important habitat for pollinators like bees and butterflies that make farmland more productive. See our article "A Perfect Place for Pollinators" for more information.