Charlotte, North Carolina, to turn old landfill into solar farm

A Charlotte, North Carolina, landfill which closed in 1970, is getting a second life as a solar farm, according to an Associated Press report. Charlotte City Council approved a lease on 22 acres on the old landfill site to Momentum Solar LLC, Metuchen, New Jersey. The company will reportedly spend the next year studying the site’s suitability for solar energy.

The Charlotte Observer reports the Statesville Road landfill is within an area the city began studying in 2014 as an '“innovation corridor” to nurture jobs in cutting-edge industries that would also stimulate investments in housing and commercial development."

Momentum anticipates the site the site could support a 2- or 3- megawatt system, enough to supply 360 to 540 homes for a year. Momentum says it has four more landfill solar projects in some stage of development and has identified about 10 other landfills as candidates.

Meanwhile the article notes North Carolina is working to put 675 closed landfills to use through solar and other means. About $8 million a year from a tax on waste is allocated to a program to work toward cleaning and repurposing about 80 landfill sites across the state so far. Other uses for the sites include parks or business developments.