Date & Time
Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Session Type
Conversation
Name
Dual-use solar: powering projects, empowering communities
Description
Utility-scale clean energy projects increasingly succeed—or fail—at the community level. How can solar projects deliver durable local value while meeting the needs of large energy buyers? What does meaningful dual land use look like beyond compliance—and how can buyers help shape projects that earn long-term license to operate? In this interactive roundtable, Sol Systems—together with a corporate customer such as Microsoft—will share practical experience integrating community impact and agrivoltaics into utility-scale development. We will highlight Eldorado Solar (270 MW), which combines Kernza®️ agrivoltaics with long-term community investment, and Tilden Solar (150 MW), which transformed a former coal mine into a clean energy asset generating jobs and sustained local economic benefits. Join this peer discussion to explore how buyer partnerships can align energy procurement with agricultural innovation and economic opportunity—while strengthening permitting outcomes and execution certainty as well as storytelling opportunities. Examine what’s working, where impact is measurable, and how buyers can engage to help scale projects that power both grids and communities.