FAQS

The project is working with the BLM Bristlecone Field Office to ensure that impacts to public infrastructure are kept to a minimum and roads are adequately maintained. A traffic control plan may be implemented if required by White Pine County.

The solar modules use glass with an anti-reflective coating specifically designed to minimize glare hazards. As a result, modern photovoltaic (PV) modules reflect as little as two percent of incoming light, about the same as water and less than windows and many other common objects. To underscore this point, several major U.S. airports and military bases have installed solar modules at or surrounding airport facilities with no impact to pilots’ visibility. General aviation would not be impacted, including agricultural-related flyovers and medevac operations.

There are no chemical or liquid discharges associated with the normal operation of the project. Water used for the project is limited primarily to dust control during construction and potential occasional panel cleaning during operation. In addition, the project will develop and implement spill prevention, control and countermeasure plans and erosion / sediment control plans to ensure no contamination of local soils or watersheds occurs.

The project has not yet selected major equipment components or manufacturers. This is done much closer to the anticipated start of construction date. Federal policy, however, directs us to source equipment from the U.S. where possible, yet we are technology agnostic in terms of Country origin.

The project has an interconnection agreement with NV Energy and can sell energy to NV Energy, serving Nevadans. However, no Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has been executed yet. Once the Project begins generating power, the electrons will flow to the closest centers of power, including the nearby towns of Ely, Eureka, and other communities connected to the Robinson Summit Substation. Moreover, these electrons may also provide transmission grid stability and reliability to the local area, thereby further strengthening surrounding communities' access to reliable power sources.

The Samantha Solar Project was sited specifically to avoid high-quality greater sage grouse habitat. Extensive wildlife surveys and habitat analysis are ongoing, and the project will adapt the design based on survey results to minimize impacts to sensitive species or habitats.

The project plans to utilize solar mounting structures that are able to accommodate the existing contours of the site without significant grading. The vast majority of the site will have steel piles driven directly into the native soil. This will minimize impacts and maintain the natural landscape as much as possible. The site will not be graded except in small areas for the placement of major equipment such as the site substation, BESS, O&M area, inverters, and major site roads. Any site preparatory work will be completed in accordance with state and BLM requirements.

A preliminary hydrology analysis has been performed to characterize flood zones and associated impacts, and will be followed by pre-construction analyses to ensure the project’s design is in compliance with regulations and minimizes impacts. The project will comply with all applicable stormwater and flood zone design regulations. In general, solar projects have a small impact on stormwater flows given their avoidance of floodways, maintaining natural contours and drainage patterns, and limited structures (primarily small steel piles driven directly into the native soil).

Limited grading is planned for the site so much of the native vegetation will be left intact. After construction, disturbed areas will be re-seeded with a seed mix outlined in a restoration plan approved by the BLM. Vegetation on site will be regularly maintained through a combination of mowing and / or grazing and monitored for any erosion issues or invasive plants. The project will also work with BLM to develop and implement a weed management plan consistent with BLM and State requirements.

Solar operations are a passive use of land and are significantly quieter than other potential land uses. The primary sound is from the inverters, which run only during daylight hours. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center conducted a study of noise and inverters at utility-scale solar facilities running at optimum capacity and concluded that while solar projects do make some noise, that noise is negligible to begin with and becomes inaudible from between 50–100 feet of the facility’s boundary line. Moreover, the closest residential private property to the project site is over 9 miles away, so we do not anticipate any major noise impacts resulting from the project’s operations.

The project will develop a detailed fire management plan with BLM. This plan will be designed to meet all BLM requirements and incorporate all necessary mitigation and response plans to address potential fire incidents during construction and operation.

While some battery fires have occurred at other locations, there have been numerous advancements in technology and regulations that have made today’s batteries much safer, including a variety of preventative and monitoring tools, as well as a robust arsenal of built-in safeguards such as a fire suppression system, 24/7 monitoring, temperature sensors, gas detection, automatic ventilation, over-current protection and emergency shut-off panels. The project will comply with all local regulations, insurance requirements, and national code requirements in order to design the project in accordance with industry best practices to limit fire risks. The project will also work with local fire agencies to create a mitigation and response plan. In general, if a fire does occur, any response will be focused on containment inside the project fenceline and preventing any spread of fire to surrounding lands.

The solar equipment itself is generally not flammable, and any onsite fires would be electrical in nature and not addressable with water-based suppression. Moreover, given the nature of the equipment, if a surrounding wildfire is impacting the project site, firefighting measures are likely to be limited to containment measures to protect adjoining lands and not involve significant volumes of water. The battery storage equipment is expected to have fire suppression equipment maintained on-site and integrated into the storage units.

During normal operation there is no risk of any chemical leakage from the batteries or solar panels. Photovoltaic modules do not contain any liquid components. The battery, inverter and electrical equipment could include liquids for cooling such as ethylene glycol (anti-freeze) and non-toxic oils. The batteries contain a small amount of liquid electrolyte encapsulated in modules within larger overall enclosures. The risk of leaks from these systems is very low, and secondary containment will be utilized if indicated by local regulations and industry best practices. In general, the project will conform with all County, State and Federal regulations related to spills, including development of a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plan, and containment measures for any materials stored or used on site (e.g., oil stored inside electrical transformers).

The project will not use any water to generate electricity. The project’s primary water use will be temporary — we anticipate the project may use up to approximately 800 acre feet of water primarily for dust control purposes over the course of construction, and up to 10 acre feet per year during operations for potable use. Long term water use for solar photovoltaic projects is very minimal.

During construction, water will be used on exposed soils as needed to minimize dust. Limited grading will allow most native soils to be left intact with vegetative cover and disturbed areas will be revegetated to limit dust emissions during operations. Additionally, the operations team looks for opportunities for further minimizing dust to ensure optimal performance of the solar array during operations.

The Samantha Solar project is sited on “Variance Lands,” which are open to solar development and reviewed on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the 2012 Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. The project will proceed through Variance review prior to initializing the full NEPA process. The project was sited to avoid impacts to sensitive habitats and communities. Additionally, the site was designed to avoid sensitive Sage Grouse habitat and be located in an area acceptable to solar and adjacent to existing facilities to limit impacts.

The project will be designed in accordance with all applicable requirements to support emergency access and the project will coordinate these designs with the local emergency services and fire districts. In general, 20 foot wide access roads to the substation and 16 foot wide roads within panel arrays are expected.

Solar modules will be no more than 12–15 feet high at max tilt. The project substation, which collects power from the panels and sends it onto the gen-tie line to Robinson Substation, will have taller equipment. The gen-tie line is sited to parallel the existing transmission corridor north and east of the project site.

Heat Island research has proven that solar projects do not raise ambient temperatures outside of the project boundaries. The modules and surrounding air may get a few degrees hotter in the sun, but the effect is highly localized. The modules will return to ambient temperatures at night with no sustained heat effect that is characteristic of “heat islands.” Additionally, by converting a portion of sunlight into electricity (which is no longer available to heat the ground) and by shading the ground, PV arrays can cool rather than heat the ground surface, relative to uncovered land.

The modules themselves generally run 30-50 degrees Fahrenheit higher than ambient air temperature in sunny conditions, (similar to how black plastic may feel sitting in the sunlight). However, the temperature of the modules has a very limited impact on the surrounding environment.

There are low-level electromagnetic fields (EMFs) associated with solar plant equipment (e.g., module strings and inverters), but the levels are no different than those that we are exposed to every day from a variety of human-made and natural sources, including common household appliances and distribution lines. At the fenceline of a solar project, EMFs are comparable to ambient background levels, and much lower than many of the other sources we encounter on a daily basis.