Norwegian solar mapping software provider Glint Solar has launched a ‘land screening’ program that allows users to assess land across several US states for suitability for the deployment of solar PV projects and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Launched last week, the software combines a land parcel search tool—which includes search criteria such as land steepness, local environment and proximity to nearby grid infrastructure—and a map on which users can draw areas to restrict their searches. It then finds a number of available areas in the region that meet the search criteria, ranked by buildable acreage and number of individual parcels of land.
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A further two tools—‘area insights’ and ‘buildable area’—are then available to show every constraint layer within an area and generate a buildable footprint for a region based on those constraints. All of this information can then be exported into a CSV file.
It is not currently clear exactly which states are covered by the product; Glint Solar claimed on LinkedIn that it works in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas, and on its own website that the program can be used in Illinois, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virgina. PV Tech has asked for clarification on this point.
“The best opportunities are becoming harder to find, while the cost of pursuing the wrong ones continues to rise,” said Glint Solar CEO Simen Fure Jørgensen. “Land Screening gives developers the ability to cast a much wider net while still having the granular insight they need to make confident decisions.”
A lack of available grid connections has been a longstanding obstacle to renewable energy deployments in the US and many other developed markets. Last year, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California reported that almost 80% of new US energy generation projects awaiting a grid connection had withdrawn their applications due to significant delays in the approvals process.
Figures from the same laboratory put the US’ total grid connection backlog as of the end of 2023 at 2.6TW, with standalone solar accounting for more than 1TW.
Glint Solar also announced that it would expand its land screening platform to Europe, aiming to deploy the software in France and Germany “in the coming weeks”.
