# Mineral rights and proposed Illinois solar farm
**URL:** https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/mineral-rights-and-proposed-illinois-solar-farm/86889
**Category:** General Mineral Rights Discussion
**Created:** [April 6, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/mineral-rights-and-proposed-illinois-solar-farm/86889 "2026-04-06T15:08:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@royjohn](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/royjohn)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/mineral-rights-and-proposed-illinois-solar-farm/86889/1 "2026-04-06T15:08:37Z")
My siblings and I inherited 25% of the [severed] mineral rights on a 300 acre farm in the Southern Illinois basin. My research shows only a couple of old, dry wells, no current activity in the area. However, I was contacted by an attorney acting for a company called Birchfield which has evidently bought the land for a solar farm. Planning for this farm is evidently pretty far along, it is not just speculative. The firm wants to buy surface rights from us to allow them to put up the solar farm and have offered us a one-time payment of a few thousand dollars. I don’t know much about solar farms, but from what I’ve been able to discover, the amount of power produced is considerable and land is often leased for 20 to 50 years with a percentage of the income to the landowners. My question is, wouldn’t this also be a possible agreement for mineral rights owners? I see estimates of land lease values of $200 to $2000 per acre per year in this area, and I wonder if a fraction of this amount for the mineral rights could be a reasonable fee. The attorney I’ve talked to says they don’t lease mineral rights. My thinking is that if their project is already going forward, they will have to make some allowances for our demands. Does this make any sense?
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### Author:  [@jordanmp627](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/jordanmp627)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/mineral-rights-and-proposed-illinois-solar-farm/86889/2 "2026-04-08T19:06:12Z")
no chance of a lease agreement. you’re getting the lump sum. but, you can ask for a subordination agreement rather than outright selling off. you can also preserve the right to develop horizonal wells that don’t intrude on the solar farm.
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### Author:  [@1Michael](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/1Michael)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2026, 11:46am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/mineral-rights-and-proposed-illinois-solar-farm/86889/3 "2026-06-10T11:46:18Z")
Odds are the attorney is representing a shell company for Google, Microsoft, Meta or the like. This is an old way Oil and Gas companies work, but in this case near Trillion Dollar companies.
Obama shut down the Federal lands to exploration and my industry changed old “Whipstock” technology to “Horizontal” for drilling. There was never known oil and gas production from the Barnett Shell in Texas until Horizontal Drilling and the rest is history. Then there is the 3D seismic.
Do Not Sign Away Your Rights To Develop What’s Under Your Acreage.
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### Author:  [@system](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/mineral-rights-and-proposed-illinois-solar-farm/86889/4 "2026-07-05T15:08:51Z")
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