HOUSTON – The largest urban solar farm in the nation is just weeks away from breaking ground in Houston’s Sunnyside neighborhood.
Nestled between State Highway 288 and Sunnyside Park is a 240-acre plot of land just waiting for something new.
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But to understand just how valuable the future of this land is to Sunnyside, we need to talk about its dark and storied past.
The property between Reed Road and W Bellfort Avenue is now overgrown with trees.
Turn the clock back 50 years ago and there was a push to close down a landfill here, a dark mark on the Sunnyside community.
“You know, there are, traditionally dumps in black communities,” said Houston City Councilwoman Carolyn Evans-Shabazz.
Lifelong Houstonians might remember the smell, mounds of trash and the blight the old landfill brought to Sunnyside.
Up until the 1970s, it’s what residents that called this community home had to live next to.
Fast forward 50+ years, the site that brought the community down is ready to rise to something new.
The proposed Sunnyside Solar Farm is nearly ready to break ground on the 240 acres of land. Once operational, the solar farm will produce 52 MW (megawatts) of electricity, enough clean energy to power 5,000-10,000 homes.
“It’s also estimated that it will remove about 120 million tons of carbon from the air,” said Charles Caves, the Interim Director of the Sunnyside Community Energy Group.
The project won’t only be the largest urban solar farm in the country, but it’s also a first for the City of Houston.
It won’t just bring light to homes nearby, it’s slated to bring life to Sunnyside.
Lighting Up Sunnyside
“A two-megawatt portion of the farm will be designated as community solar,” Caves said.
That means money made from those two-megawatts of energy will help pay electric bills for those who can’t afford them.
“Now, there won’t be anybody’s house directly connected to it, but they will get like credits on their bills, for example,” Caves said.
That’s just the start.
The company building the solar farm, CleanCapital, will also pay the City of Houston rent for the land.
“A portion of that payment will go back to the community as well,” explains Caves.
While the power might travel outside of Sunnyside, the money and even more benefits will stay right here.
“They’re looking to have a ag hub as well,” Councilwoman Evans-Shabazz said. “And a food source for people because, you know, this area is considered to be a food desert food insecure.”
It Takes A Community To Build The Future
Not only will Sunnyside be able to reap the benefits of the solar farm, but the residents who call this community home will have the chance to help build it.
“This is not only renewable energy, but it offers job opportunities for, people in the community. So that they could have a leg up to be able to participate in this phenomenal new energy in Sunnyside,” said Councilwoman Evans-Shabazz.
CleanCapital already hosted three training programs in the local community with the goal of hiring some of the workers from Sunnyside.
“With any project we develop, we look to find ways that can bring economic value to the community,” a CleanCapital spokesperson told KPRC2 in an email. “For this 2MW site, we held three solar installation workshops for members of the Sunnyside community. At least 10% of the trainees from this program, with the hope of more, will work on the actual construction of the project with continued training. As we move forward on this project, there will be an opportunity for local contract work for both the construction and maintenance of the solar site.”
They’re not the only ones getting local workers ready.
The South Union Community Development Corporation is also helping Sunnyside residents learn the skills they need to get a job building a part of their community’s future.
“We’ve trained over 94 people how to build a solar ground mount,” said Efrem Jernigan, President of the South Union Community Development Corporation. “I’m a believer in freedom. We should all be free to get an education. That means if you learn a certain trait that we’re teaching, you’ll economically have your sunshine.”
What’s Next?
The solar farm project is a month and a half behind schedule, according to Caves.
Work on clearing the land the solar panels will sit on is slated to begin in the coming months.
CleanCapital says they’re working on securing final financing for the project, citing higher interest rates as a hurdle.
“There is a request for an extension because they have to find an off-taker,” said Councilwoman Evans-Shabazz. “Because it certainly makes no sense to create this opportunity. And you don’t have an off-taker, which is somebody who would purchase the energy.”
Building the solar farm will take upwards of a year and a half.
“Opportunity will be spelled S-u-n-n-y-s-i-d-e,” Councilwoman Evans-Shabazz said.
“And now, we truly have everybody having Sunshine in Sunnyside,” Jernigan added.
It’s a change that so many in Sunnyside are welcoming, with open arms and a bright smile.