Construction has commenced on solar energy installations at four municipal landfill sites in Connecticut, developed by Verogy. The towns of Mansfield, Morris, Somers and Suffield are hosting the projects, which are converting closed landfills into productive clean energy assets.
The installations are participants in Connecticut’s Non-Residential Renewable Energy Solutions (NRES) program, which compensates non-residential entities for renewable energy generation. The initiative aims to turn otherwise idle land into renewable energy sources that benefit host communities.
Verogy, the developer behind the projects, is overseeing the transformation of these former waste sites into solar arrays. The specific capacity or output figures for the installations were not disclosed in the announcement.
Landfill solar repurposing represents a growing trend in the renewable sector, offering developers a way to use land that might otherwise be unsuitable for development. These projects contribute to Connecticut's broader goals of increasing renewable energy deployment while addressing brownfield redevelopment.
A counter argument to landfill solar development is that these sites can require extensive remediation and monitoring, potentially raising costs and complication timelines compared to greenfield installations. Some critics also question the long-term stability of panels on settling waste.