Utility-Scale Solar Site Evaluation
Utility-scale solar development — projects larger than 1 megawatt — requires rigorous site evaluation to minimize risk and maximize return on investment. Land acquisition, interconnection, permitting, and construction represent multi-million dollar commitments, making early-stage site selection critically important.
SolarScope accelerates the initial screening phase of utility-scale development by providing rapid solar resource analysis, grid capacity insights, and AI-assisted site comparison — all without requiring specialized GIS tools or expert solar engineers for every preliminary assessment.
The Utility-Scale Development Funnel
Utility-scale development typically follows a funnel:
- Region screening: Identify states or counties with high GHI and favorable policy
- Site identification: Find parcels with suitable size, land use, and proximity to transmission
- Pre-feasibility analysis: Quantify solar resource, estimate production and revenue
- Feasibility study: Detailed engineering, interconnection study, environmental review
- Development: Land control, permits, financing, interconnection agreement
- Construction: EPC contractor selection, construction, commissioning
SolarScope is designed for stages 1–3, providing the data and insights needed to decide which sites advance to resource-intensive feasibility.
Solar Resource Screening for Utility Projects
The threshold for utility-scale solar viability varies by market, but general guidelines:
- High-value resource: GHI > 5.5 kWh/m²/day (US Southwest, Southeast, Mountain West)
- Viable resource: GHI 4.5–5.5 kWh/m²/day (Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast)
- Marginal resource: GHI < 4.5 kWh/m²/day (Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes)
Use SolarScope to create projects at candidate site centroids and compare GHI, DNI, and peak sun hours across your shortlist. For large sites (500+ acres), create multiple projects at different corners of the site to assess resource variability.
Grid Interconnection Assessment
Utility-scale solar economics are highly sensitive to interconnection costs. A site with excellent solar resource but 50 miles from the nearest transmission line may be uneconomical due to transmission upgrade costs.
SolarScope's Site Studio Grid Capacity layer shows:
- Utility territory boundaries
- Available interconnection capacity data (where published by utilities)
- Proximity to existing transmission and distribution infrastructure
Sites within existing utility territories with published available capacity are preferable early targets. Projects requiring new transmission segments typically add $1–5 million per mile to project costs.
Land Assessment Considerations
Utility-scale solar requires approximately 5–7 acres per megawatt for fixed-tilt systems (4–5 acres/MW for single-axis tracking at higher ground coverage ratios).
Use SolarScope's Site Studio to:
- Measure candidate parcel areas
- Identify topographic features that may affect array layout
- Assess shade from tree lines, ridges, or adjacent structures
- Estimate system size capacity based on available area
Land use preferences:
- Previously disturbed land (brownfields, agricultural) is preferred over greenfields
- Slope < 5% is ideal; > 15% significantly increases racking and grading costs
- Avoid designated wetlands, critical habitat, or prime farmland where possible
Pre-Feasibility Financial Modeling
With SolarScope's production estimates, utility developers can build a preliminary pro forma:
Revenue estimation:
- Annual production (kWh) × Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) price ($/kWh)
- Typical utility-scale PPA prices: $0.03–0.08/kWh (varies widely by market and year)
Cost estimation:
- Installed cost: $0.80–$1.20/W-AC for utility-scale (2024 benchmarks)
- O&M: $8–15/kW-year
- Land lease: $500–2,000/acre/year (varies by location)
Ask the SolarScope AI assistant to help you build a preliminary pro forma model for your specific site and market conditions.
Advancing to Feasibility
Sites that pass pre-feasibility screening should advance to:
- Formal interconnection pre-application with the utility
- Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment
- Preliminary geotechnical investigation
- Land option or lease negotiation
- PVsyst detailed energy modeling with TMY data
SolarScope provides the starting point data that makes this funnel efficient — filtering hundreds of potential sites to a shortlist of the most promising candidates before committing to expensive feasibility work.