Solar/Wind Site Prospecting

Find large rural parcels and rank them for utility-scale solar or wind: resource, distance and voltage to the grid, slope, flood, wetlands and protected land.

An area to prospect, or a list of parcels · Tools: parcel_search, parcel_enrich, start_run, get_run, proximity · 25 lookups per search page with results, then 6 per parcel screened (5 for the parcel, 1 for the 13 point fields).

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/isopleth-solar-wind-site-prospecting && curl -fsSL https://isopleth.dev/templates/solar-wind-site-prospecting/SKILL.md -o ~/.claude/skills/isopleth-solar-wind-site-prospecting/SKILL.md

Example prompt

Or pick the solar_wind_site_prospecting prompt from the Isopleth MCP server in your client.

How it works

1. Call parcel_search with the state and county, acres_min (about 5 acres per MW for solar; wind needs larger, often several adjoining tracts) and land_use words such as agricultural or vacant. Use limit 100.
2. Screen the candidates: for a handful, call parcel_enrich with each parcel_id and the fields below; for dozens or more, call start_run with kind "enrich", items [{"parcel_id": ...}] and the same fields, with max_lookups set, then page through get_run.
3. Drop parcels in flood zone A or V, on wetlands, protected land or critical habitat, or with average slope over about 5 degrees for solar (about 10 for wind).
4. Rank the rest by grid access first (distance to a line of the needed voltage and to a substation), then resource (GHI for solar; 100 m wind speed and capacity factor for wind), then acreage.
5. For the finalists, call proximity with categories ["power"] for the nearest substation, line, plant and pipeline with names and voltages.

Fields used

Point fields, measured at each parcel:

• ghi_annual_kwh_m2_day: Average daily sunlight on a flat surface in kWh per square meter per day, from NREL's long-term (1998-2016) solar resource map on an approximately 4 km grid.
• mean_wind_speed_100m_ms: Long-term average wind speed in m/s at 100 m above ground, from the NREL WIND Toolkit (2 km grid, lower 48 states).
• wind_capacity_factor_pct: Modeled average output, as a percent of maximum, of a modern reference wind turbine (115 m hub, 170 m rotor) at the nearest NREL reV land-based wind site.
• slope_degrees: Steepness of the ground at this point in degrees, calculated from the USGS 3DEP elevation model. 0 is level ground and 90 is a vertical face.
• nearest_transmission_line_distance_m: Distance in meters to the closest electric transmission line in the EIA energy atlas.
• nearest_transmission_line_voltage_kv: Operating voltage in kV of the closest transmission line. Null when no number is published for that line.
• nearest_substation_distance_m: Distance in meters to the closest electric substation of 69 kV or more in the EIA energy atlas.
• nearest_substation_max_voltage_kv: Highest voltage in kV at that closest substation, as published in the EIA energy atlas.
• nfhl_flood_zone: FEMA flood zone code at this point from the National Flood Hazard Layer, such as AE, A, AO, VE or X. Where several zones overlap, the one that sets the flood-insurance requirement is used.
• intersects_wetland: True when this point lies inside a wetland mapped by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory.
• intersects_protected_area: True when this point is inside a protected area in the USGS PAD-US database, such as a park, refuge, wilderness, military land or private preserve.
• intersects_critical_habitat: True when this point is inside critical habitat for an endangered or threatened species, final or proposed, as designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• lcms_class: Main land cover at this point (trees, shrubs, grass, barren and similar) from the USFS Land Change Monitoring System, sampled on an approximately 120 m grid. Lower 48 states.

Parcel record columns (published columns vary by state; see coverage): parcelnumb, owner, mailadd, mail_state2, usedesc, gisacre, parval, lat, lon.

Tool call

What the agent sends to parcel_enrich:

{
  "lat": 35.21,
  "lng": -101.83,
  "fields": [
    "ghi_annual_kwh_m2_day",
    "mean_wind_speed_100m_ms",
    "wind_capacity_factor_pct",
    "slope_degrees",
    "nearest_transmission_line_distance_m",
    "nearest_transmission_line_voltage_kv",
    "nearest_substation_distance_m",
    "nearest_substation_max_voltage_kv",
    "nfhl_flood_zone",
    "intersects_wetland",
    "intersects_protected_area",
    "intersects_critical_habitat",
    "lcms_class"
  ]
}

Output

A ranked table: parcel, owner, acres, grid distance and voltage, resource value, red flags, lookups spent. Straight-line distances only; interconnection capacity needs a utility study.

SKILL.md

Save this as isopleth-solar-wind-site-prospecting/SKILL.md in your agent's skills folder (for Claude Code, ~/.claude/skills/), or download it.

---
name: isopleth-solar-wind-site-prospecting
description: Find large rural parcels and rank them for utility-scale solar or wind: resource, distance and voltage to the grid, slope, flood, wetlands and protected land. Uses the Isopleth MCP server (https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp).
---

# Solar/Wind Site Prospecting

Find large rural parcels and rank them for utility-scale solar or wind: resource, distance and voltage to the grid, slope, flood, wetlands and protected land.

## Requirements

- The Isopleth MCP server connected at `https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp` with an API key in the `Authorization: Bearer` header (see https://isopleth.dev/docs/mcp).
- Tools used: `parcel_search`, `parcel_enrich`, `start_run`, `get_run`, `proximity`.
- Cost: 25 lookups per search page with results, then 6 per parcel screened (5 for the parcel, 1 for the 13 point fields).

## Steps

1. Call parcel_search with the state and county, acres_min (about 5 acres per MW for solar; wind needs larger, often several adjoining tracts) and land_use words such as agricultural or vacant. Use limit 100.
2. Screen the candidates: for a handful, call parcel_enrich with each parcel_id and the fields below; for dozens or more, call start_run with kind "enrich", items [{"parcel_id": ...}] and the same fields, with max_lookups set, then page through get_run.
3. Drop parcels in flood zone A or V, on wetlands, protected land or critical habitat, or with average slope over about 5 degrees for solar (about 10 for wind).
4. Rank the rest by grid access first (distance to a line of the needed voltage and to a substation), then resource (GHI for solar; 100 m wind speed and capacity factor for wind), then acreage.
5. For the finalists, call proximity with categories ["power"] for the nearest substation, line, plant and pipeline with names and voltages.

## Arguments (example `parcel_enrich` call)

```json
{
  "lat": 35.21,
  "lng": -101.83,
  "fields": [
    "ghi_annual_kwh_m2_day",
    "mean_wind_speed_100m_ms",
    "wind_capacity_factor_pct",
    "slope_degrees",
    "nearest_transmission_line_distance_m",
    "nearest_transmission_line_voltage_kv",
    "nearest_substation_distance_m",
    "nearest_substation_max_voltage_kv",
    "nfhl_flood_zone",
    "intersects_wetland",
    "intersects_protected_area",
    "intersects_critical_habitat",
    "lcms_class"
  ]
}
```

## Output

A ranked table: parcel, owner, acres, grid distance and voltage, resource value, red flags, lookups spent. Straight-line distances only; interconnection capacity needs a utility study.

Every value carries its source, license and attribution. Keep the source next to each value, and show the attributions if you share the results.

Connect your agent

https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp

https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp

claude mcp add --transport http isopleth https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp

claude mcp add --transport http isopleth https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer $ISOPLETH_KEY"

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isopleth": {
      "url": "https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp"
    }
  }
}

code --add-mcp '{"name":"isopleth","type":"http","url":"https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp"}'

{
  "servers": {
    "isopleth": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp"
    }
  }
}

codex mcp add isopleth --url https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp

codex mcp add isopleth --url https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp --bearer-token-env-var ISOPLETH_KEY

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isopleth": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization:${ISOPLETH_AUTH}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ISOPLETH_AUTH": "Bearer YOUR_ISOPLETH_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isopleth": {
      "serverUrl": "https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp"
    }
  }
}

https://api.isopleth.dev/mcp

Authorization: Bearer $ISOPLETH_KEY