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Last month, residents packed out the Prince Edward Planning Commission meeting, speaking for or against the Gabriel Solar project. Commission members held off on voting, however, as several had questions they wanted answered. One month later, the commission received those answers and cast a vote, in front of a much smaller crowd. 

The proposal is by far the biggest one to come before Prince Edward officials. It would stretch over 539 acres, east of New Bethel Road and on both sides of Falkland Road and Virso Road. This is for a 80 megawatt solar farm and 120 megawatt battery storage facility. The sheer size of the project, combined with concerns about everything from fire safety to the track record of Gabriel Solar’s parent company Energix in nearby Buckingham, made a majority of commission members want to press pause last month, to continue reading and researching the material available before reaching a decision.

But now, the group cast a unanimous vote to recommend moving forward with the project. The only one not voting was Teresa Sandlin, who recused herself. Five years ago, she had sold a house to someone in the area who is opposed to the solar farm. In recent weeks, solar farm supporters had claimed that decision, made long before Gabriel Solar submitted their latest application, proved she wasn’t objective. Sandlin said she decided to recuse herself from this final vote, even though local and state officials said she didn’t have to, in order to eliminate any doubt. 

Answering questions about Gabriel Solar

But the main focus of Tuesday’s meeting involved Gabriel Solar officials answering the questions raised at last month’s meeting. Prince Edward Supervisor and liaison to the commission Llew Gilliam Jr., who has been a firefighter for more than 40 years, had asked what fire prevention methods the battery storage system and solar panels would have. 

Gabriel’s Director of Development, Michael Cook, told commission members that the project would have a thermal management system, along with automated fire suppression systems, buffers to protect against flame escaping and a 24/7 Battery Protection Unit, which will monitor the structure. Cook also said the fire detection system provides early warning, before the solar panels even catch on fire. If they get heated beyond what’s considered an acceptable degree, both the Gabriel officials and local firefighters will be notified. As for the battery storage, Cook said that the system will monitor voltage levels, temperature and state of charge, to prevent any overcharging, overdischarging or overheating. 

The fire suppression system, meanwhile, will use gas to interrupt the chemical chain reaction that ignites fire on the panel. The system also will include ventilation dampers, to control gas exhaust during any such incident. 

Another question raised last month was about training. Will firefighters in Prince Edward County be trained to know what they’re dealing with and how best to address it. Cook said yes. Gabriel Solar will provide training resources, emergency response guidelines, as well as a training program, covering onsite emergency response. 

Another question from last month involved what material will be used on the panels. Instead of free cadmium, this project will use cadmium telluride, a different blend of material that has 1/100th the toxicity of regular cadmium. Cook told the commission Gabriel Solar’s parent company, Energix, has used these type of systems in Europe, because they don’t offer the same fire risks that lithium does. 

What about the Buckingham site? 

Now this isn’t the first project connected with Energix in the region. In 2024, Energix was fined more than $100,000 for the third straight year by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality for violations at its Buckingham County site. 

And to be clear, the violations at the Buckingham County site are just part of a larger problem. In total, DEQ officials found 75 violations of state law at sites Energix owns in Buckingham, Henry, Sussex and Wythe counties, officials said in a May report. The Buckingham property, located at 23 Highrock Road, has been cited for multiple violations over the last few years. The facility sits on about 470 acres, which are split into five parcels near Route 60, and generates 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

But over the last few years, DEQ officials have found problems like not stabilizing the slopes of stormwater basins in the area, allowing erosion between solar panels and discharging sediment, which covered the on-site road in places. These past violations also covered some administrative tasks, like not performing required inspections and not having all controls in compliance. All of those were corrected once DEQ officials issued violation notices, but not before Energix was fined an estimated $350,000. 

Cook said the company has addressed problems as they arose. 

“When we’ve found contractors who weren’t doing it the right way, we stopped working with them,” Cook said. “(The) same with people within the company. We’ve moved on and showed people the door who weren’t managing to our level of expectation and compliance.” 

More details about Gabriel Solar

The project itself would be roughly 11 miles south of Farmville and about 2 miles east of Route 15. It would be, by far, the largest solar project taken on in Prince Edward. To give a comparison, previous solar projects in Prince Edward, especially recent ones, have come nowhere close to this size. The CEP solar projects approved back in July by the Prince Edward supervisors, were 170.8 and 81.2, respectively. Then there was North Branch Solar, which includes 40 acres used on a 147.5 acre piece of land. This one, meanwhile, would be 539 acres used on a piece of land stretching more than 800 acres, with 110,000 panels. It’s also worth pointing out that unlike some of the other solar projects that still need to negotiate or build a substation, this piece of land already has one that connects with Dominion. 

It’s so large, in fact, that Prince Edward County would not be responsible for monitoring the stormwater issues, like the ones which led to violations in Buckingham County. The state would be responsible for monitoring the stormwater issues of the operation, not the county.
If approved, the site would be accessible through New Bethel, Virso and Falkland roads, with a six-foot fence around it to hide from both neighbors and the roadway. As for construction concerns, building everything would take between 9 to 12 months, with an average of 16 trucks coming in and out every day. During the six-month peak construction period, Gabriel Solar officials say, residents could expect 60 trips per day from trucks.

What’s next for the project?

After the unanimous recommendation given this week, Gabriel Solar heads to the Prince Edward Board of Supervisors, who will discuss the project during their Tuesday, Feb. 11 meeting.