Peacock Solar | 187MW in Texas

About the Peacock solar project

Peacock Solar is currently under construction 10 miles north of Corpus Christi in San Patricio County, Texas. The privately funded renewable energy project will deliver home-grown electricity into the local grid, helping with Texas’ energy independence and energy security.

The Peacock project will do more than reduce carbon emissions for healthier air. Construction of the solar farm is creating local jobs and supporting domestic supply chains. PCL Construction, the main engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project, is installing ultra-low carbon solar panels and trackers from US-based manufacturers First Solar and GameChange Solar, respectively. The solar farm will provide a $25 million boost to the local community over the project life – additional funding for local schools and other services without a tax increase on its citizens.

In 2023, Lightsource bp and Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV), a joint venture between ExxonMobil and SABIC, announced a Power Purchase Agreement for Peacock Solar. Located near the GCGV complex, Peacock will supply power directly to the facility, which produces materials used to manufacture clothes, food containers, packaging, agricultural film and construction materials. Once complete, the installation will generate enough renewable energy annually to power the equivalent of 34,000 homes. Solar energy delivers long-term price stability, decoupled from fuel price volatility.

News & Announcements

bp begins construction on new Texas solar project

187MWdc

/150MWac of home-grown renewable energy

256,000 metric tons

carbon emissions abated each year for healthier air

300

jobs created during construction, supporting local workers and domestic supply chains

$25 million

in property taxes, benefiting local schools & public services

34,000

equivalent homes powered with renewable energy

Site Selection & Preliminary Design

Stakeholder outreach

Permitting & environmental studies

Land management & biodiversity planning

Final engineering, financing & construction

Operation & maintenance

Decommissioning & recycling

Solar farm basics: What, why and how?

Solar farms generate enough home-grown electricity to power thousands of homes, with no carbon emissions, for healthier air. Solar helps diversify our country’s energy mix, adding resilience and security to America’s energy infrastructure, reducing our dependence on foreign energy sources while driving down electricity costs.

In solar farms, rows of solar panels produce electricity, which flows into the local electric grid, like any other kind of electric plant– powering places like homes, businesses, schools and hospitals.

Solar panels are mounted on racking that sits on posts – those posts take up less than 5% of the land. This leaves significant open space under the panels, in the rows and in buffer areas to plant site-specific grasses and other vegetation with a goal of increasing biodiversity in the first 5 years of operation. We also integrate agriculture where practical.

The racking is equipped with smart solar trackers that slowly and quietly rotate throughout the day, following the sun to maximize solar energy production. These smart trackers serve other important purposes, too – they help protect solar panels from hailstorms, high winds, and buildup of snow on solar panels.

See how a solar farm is built

Read FAQs about solar farms

Community dialogue – we want to be a good neighbor

Lightsource bp is dedicated to supporting communities that are home to our solar projects across America. That’s why we have an entire Community Relations team that works closely with our neighbors to maximize the positive social impacts of our projects.

To connect with a Community Relations Manager please email USCommunityRelations@lightsourcebp.com.

It’s so much more than a solar farm

A solar farm is so much more than you think. It can boost biodiversity on the land. It can provide new tax revenue to your community. It’s a new year-round type of harvest for your neighbor farmers that helps them keep their land for future generations.

Long-term benefits

In addition to generating renewable energy for Texas’ electrical grid, development of the land with home-grown solar energy has several additional long-term benefits, including:

Rest and regeneration of the land during the project’s life, improving soil health and preserving it for future use.
Healthy groundcover under and around the panels that boosts local biodiversity, creating a stable, long-term home for plants, pollinators, birds and other wildlife.

Opportunity for integrated agriculture such as sheep grazing or bee keeping.
Rural resilience through continued local ownership of the land.
Energy security and independence from foreign sources of fuel.
Healthier air quality by generating electricity with no polluting carbon dioxide emissions.

Economic growth for the community

The Peacock Solar project represents a significant capital investment into home-grown renewable energy for Texas, using private funding. This opens many doors for economic growth, including:

Throughout the life of the project, $25+ million in new tax revenue will be generated, benefitting local school systems and many other community public services – without an increase in taxes to local residents.
300 jobs will be created during peak construction of the project, prioritizing the hiring of local subcontractors and local labor.
Lightsource bp is committed to supporting philanthropic activities and charitable donations to local organizations.

Our Responsible Solar approach

Lightsource bp has a deep commitment to delivering safe, renewable and affordable energy, as well as maximizing the environmental sustainability and positive social impacts of each of our projects. We call this approach Responsible Solar. We pay attention to every detail, from the fencing we choose to the vegetation we plant. We want our Peacock Solar farm to be a great project for the local community. In developing the project, we are implementing our best practices for solar farm development, including the below:

Environment and aesthetics

Planting new trees and other vegetation between the solar panels and public view where needed for screening and to provide habitat for local wildlife.
Designing setbacks from nearby property lines and public roads.
Planting vegetation under and around the solar panels, with a seed mix customized for the local area in order to increase biodiversity and improve soil health.

Upkeep and decommissioning

Making sure appropriate drainage and traffic mitigation are provided during construction.
Budgeting for consistent maintenance and upkeep of the facility.
Committing to recycling all solar panels: Lightsource bp has a zero landfill policy for solar panels.
Preparing a decommissioning plan to ensure that the project will be removed at the end of its life.

Responsible Solar Stories

Find out more about our Responsible Solar approach in action.

Information and resources

We’ve put together a collection of resources for anyone who’d like to know more about utility-scale solar energy.

Solar farm FAQs

We’ve put together a list of the most commonly asked questions, and their answers.

FAQs about solar energy

Peacock Solar | 187MW in Texas