Hatfield ‘community solar garden project’ would cover farmland with energy plant
Twenty-nine acres of Pioneer Valley farmland could fall to a solar farm — at least for 25 years. Clean Focus Renewables of Colorado proposes the 5-megawatt, 29-acre Hatfield Community Solar Garden Project. If approved, it would be built near the Whately border on land owned by the Chang Family Trust of South Deerfield. Zach Sawicki, a developer with Clean Focus, recently presented the company’s plans to the Hatfield Planning Board, and described a 20,000-panel ground-mounted system.