Reston-based solar developer SolUnesco has proposed a 400-acre, 60-megawatt solar farm along Route 20 in Orange County, just a mile from Locust Grove Primary School. During a recent open house, SolUnesco staff told residents more about the project, which will come before the planning commission in a public hearing next month.
SolUnesco submitted a special-use permit application for the Madison Solar Project to the county’s planning department in August. Currently, the operation of solar farms — as a public utility facility — is permissible as a special use in all county zoning districts.
SolUnesco has more than 640 acres under contract with Mine Run-Kube Farms LLC and zoned for agricultural use. Seth Maughan, SolUnesco’s director of projects, said the contract is an option purchase, which gives the developer five years to complete the project.
