Santa Barbara County close to allowing thousands of acres of solar energy projects

Santa Barbara County close to allowing thousands of acres of solar energy projects

The largest solar panel array in Santa Barbara County spans a dusty patch of the rural Cuyama Valley for a reason. The remote setting is the one place in the county where the project’s broad footprint and scale—327 acres of panel after panel—is legally allowed. That’s likely to change, however, as elected officials consider expanding solar energy production. New standards would pave the way for commercial installations countywide on a range of n…