The clean energy produced by solar power projects doesn't come from nothing. It takes vast fields of solar panels supported by lots of industrial infrastructure. 

That infrastructure includes large systems of batteries, and the risk of fire from those batteries is becoming increasingly apparent. The warrant for the Fall Town Meeting, which will be held Monday, Oct. 23, includes a request to address that risk. 

The request would regulate the battery storage systems that come included with large solar projects in an effort to lower the risk of fire. Another request, to amend the bylaws on solar projects themselves, may be deferred until the Spring Town Meeting, after word from the State Attorney General. 

Safety and environmental concerns have made solar projects controversial in Wareham.

A proposed solar farm at 0 Route 25 was withdrawn to be resubmitted without a battery storage system included. Two decisions in January from the Plymouth County Superior Court challenged the town's decisions on solar projects, overturning the town's denial of one project and allowing a lawsuit to proceed against the town's approval of another. 

Wareham has made several runs at regulating solar projects, including with a set of bylaws passed in April of 2022. 

The Planning Board members are "trying to get it so they can control the impacts of the facilities, but still have the clean power that [the state of Massachusetts] and everyone else is looking for," said Ken Buckland, director of Planning and Community Development. 

The evolving nature of solar technology has led the town back to its bylaws for another go. 

When Wareham wrote its original solar regulations, no one knew that battery storage would be an issue, said Buckland. He added new information has come out since then, showing that the batteries used for solar projects could potentially catch fire. 

If passed at Fall Town Meeting, the regulation would require that each system has 30 feet of space around it cleared of any plants likely to catch and spread fire.

The operators of battery systems would need to study the potential impacts of a fire and provide the town with fire safety plans. In addition, firefighters would need easy access to the battery systems themselves.

Buckland said the idea is to get detailed information on the systems, so the Planning Board can figure out if the developers’ proposed locations are safe.

The planning board will hold a public hearing on the regulations at its meeting on Monday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Multi-Service Center. 

The Planning Board's other request would, if passed, govern where solar panels could be placed. 

If solar panels aren't on a roof or over a parking lot, the Planning Board wants to know what kind of an impact they will have on the area's water and its forests, said Buckland. He added the Planning Board is concerned about placing large scale solar projects in areas such as wetlands, forested areas and special habitat. 

That request may be left to the Spring Town Meeting. 

The request uses as its base the solar bylaws passed in April of 2022. Buckland said the attorney general recently reviewed the April 2022 solar bylaws, and told the town to take out a couple of sentences, a change which has a ripple effect on the new regulations. 

The request must either be amended at Fall Town Meeting before being voted on or pushed back to Spring Town Meeting. The Planning Board will decide at its Monday, Oct. 16 meeting what to do, said Buckland.