Solar for Landfill and Brownfield Lands
With experience and industry partnerships, Core Development Group provides superior design, permitting, construction, and end-to-end solar services on closed landfills, brownfields, and contaminated lands.
Landfill owners can lease their idle land for solar development, receive financial benefits, and gain community support through land reuse. Core Development Group makes it easy to lock in a guaranteed financial return for the use of the land. Solar land leases can pay for operating expenses or offset maintenance costs. By providing a pollution-free source of energy on land, adding clean, renewable energy projects on properties can have several environmental and economic benefits. Through reuse of these sites, communities see a property that had been underutilized turned into a facility that may help improve the local tax base, create jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create a paradigm shift into economic opportunity. This approach not only revitalizes land but turns a potential liability into an asset that will serve the community for decades to come and improve corporate sustainability. Our multidisciplinary teams implement complex landfill projects successfully and cost effectively — from initial concept, through permitting, engineering, and construction. And our nationwide network of employees and partners is critical for understanding the local sensitivities and regional needs that are integral to project success. Partner with Core Development Group to revitalize land for a win-win situation, that is good for the environment and good for business.
Incentives for Landfill or Brownfield Solar Development
Many towns, municipalities, and landowners are starting to seize the opportunity in solar development on brownfields and landfills as a way to improve tax bases, generate revenue, conserve open space, and utilize contaminated land for the community benefit by generating electricity. Solar development on landfills and brownfields has several benefits and often has a more efficient and faster permitting and zoning timeline than traditional solar development. Typically, cities and counties encourage the solar development of potentially contaminated land with an understanding of the benefit or potential tax revenue generated through the reuse of an idle site. Communities support landfill and brownfield revitalization, especially when it benefits the local community and preserves open space.
The elimination of the 5% Safe Harbor for larger (1.5+ MW) solar projects significantly narrows compliance options, raising the importance of tangible construction activity and detailed documentation.
Key courses of action include:
- Accelerate project schedules to capture Safe Harbor benefits before September 2, 2025.
- Identify and execute physical work activities that qualify under the new IRS standard to maximize federal solar investment tax credits.
- Audit supply chains and prepare for forthcoming FEOC guidance.
- Maintain detailed documentation to support tax credit eligibility.
The changes introduced in IRS Notice 2025-42 are reshaping how solar projects must be planned, documented, and delivered—especially for larger installations that no longer qualify under the 5% Safe Harbor. With compressed timelines and a strict four-year completion requirement, the stakes for securing federal tax incentives have never been higher. Core Development Group brings the technical expertise, project management rigor, and compliance insight needed to keep your projects on track—whether under or above the 1.5 MW threshold. Let’s discuss how we can help get your solar projects under construction with fast, reliable energy project execution.
Core Development Group has extensive experience in identifying suitable land for a solar farms. Solar development projects often require a minimum acreage that is combined with close proximity to three-phase power with a substation. Ideally, we seek 10 – 40 acres for community solar projects or larger pieces of land for utility-scale solar projects, including the following criteria.
Key Factors for Brownfield Solar Development
5 to 100+ acres of land
Close to power lines or substations
Available electric capacity with local utility
Minimal obstructions or shading
Outside of wetlands boundaries
Accessible via public roads
Land that is flat or has minimal slope
Permitting & Zoning
Community Solar on Municipal Landfills
Some municipal landfills are excellent candidates for community solar development. Towns or municipalities can develop their land with solar to create community solar subscription programs that offer local residents, renters, consumers in multi-family dwellings, homeowners without ideal roof locations, and small businesses access to the benefits of solar power without having solar installations on their own land or roof. Providing a broader range of consumers with easier access to solar power helps increase new renewable energy generation that can displace traditional generation sources. These community solar farms provide consumers with an easy way to support renewable energy sources and benefit their local environments.
Community solar projects represent a significant opportunity to reenergize under-utilized property or brownfields to produce renewable electricity, support local jobs, increase tax revenue, and save local residents money on their electricity bills. Community solar projects can provide cost savings to municipalities or towns and their participating residents, by leveraging the use of an under-utilized land asset (landfill or contaminated brownfield) that will produce revenue for the municipality or town, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to zero-emission goals. Through community solar initiatives, municipalities and counties can demonstrate continued commitment to sustainability that will deliver economic and environmental benefits to their community for many years to come.
Property owners or municipalities that have 5 to 100 acres of brownfield or contaminated land, your property may be a good candidate for a community solar facility. Land with degraded usage, limited road frontage, quarry sites, brownfields, unused farms, and landfills are excellent candidates for solar development and can qualify to receive long-term lease payments. Plus, there are Federal, State, and local utility incentives that can apply to solar development on landfills and brownfields. Core Development Group can assess your land and provide a competitive lease payment rate for installing solar or community solar on the property. Leasing is simple. All the details of your solar project are handled, including environmental studies, permits, entitlements, and interconnections to the utility. Core Development Group is actively working with landowners, municipalities, counties, and towns to build community solar projects and develop underutilized lands that allow consumers to have access to solar power.
Get a Free ConsultationSolar Land Lease for Financial Benefit
Partner with Core Development Group to monetize your land. Lower operating costs, achieve tax and pricing efficiencies, and give back to the planet and local community by investing in renewable energy sources.
- Financial Incentives
- Local Job Creation
- Benefits Community
- Lower Carbon Footprint
Environmental Benefits of Solar
Solar development on landfill or brownfields yields real benefits with measurable results. 100 acres of renewable electricity production with resource-efficient use will result in the following:
CO2 Offsets: 25,300 metric tons (50,600,000 lbs.) annually
Greenhouse Gas Equivalent:
CO2 Equivalent:
Carbon Sequestered:
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Avoided:
