Who this is for
- Solar developers building a pipeline of 50 MW and larger projects in Texas
- Land and origination teams who need a first pass before calling a landowner
- Analysts and investors checking a site someone else brought them
Most solar sites die for boring reasons. The parcel is too small once you take out the creek, the nearest line is the wrong voltage, half of it sits in a mapped flood zone, or a conservation easement covers the back forty. Each of those facts is public. Pulling them together for one parcel takes an afternoon. Doing it for a county takes weeks.
Voltane puts those facts on one map for every Texas county we process. You set a project size, and the map shows the parcels that pass the hard filters, ranked by how well they fit, with the evidence behind each match.
What Voltane checks
Every layer below is public data. The map and every brief show the source and date next to each value. Where a value is missing it reads "unknown", never zero.
| Layer | Source | Vintage |
|---|---|---|
| Parcels and acreage | TxGIO StratMap Land Parcels | 2025 (county appraisal dates Feb to Jul 2025) |
| Slope and the flat buildable block | USGS 3DEP 1 arc-second elevation | seamless dataset, pulled 2026-09-29 |
| Solar resource (GHI) | NREL NSRDB PSM v3 | 1998 to 2016 average |
| Transmission lines by voltage | HIFLD Electric Power Transmission Lines | last updated 2024-09-30 |
| Substations | OpenStreetMap Texas extract (Geofabrik) | pulled 2026-09-29 |
| ERCOT interconnection queue | ERCOT GIS Report (MIS report 15933) | August 2026 report, published 2026-09-01 |
| Flood hazard zones | FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer, Texas extract | extract of 2026-10-30 |
| Mapped wetlands | USFWS National Wetlands Inventory | May 2026 release |
| Protected land | USGS PAD-US 4.1 | March 2025 |
| Land cover | USGS Annual NLCD, Collection 1.2 | 2025 |
How it works
- Pick a project size in MW. Voltane turns it into a minimum acreage and drops parcels below it. The hard floor is 50 acres.
- Each parcel is measured for its largest flat, contiguous block, not just its deeded acres, after taking out mapped flood zones, wetlands and protected land.
- Distance to the nearest transmission line (with its voltage) and substation is measured from the parcel. Closer and higher voltage scores better. This is a proxy for grid access, not a statement about interconnection.
- The ERCOT queue in the same county is shown as context, so you can see where other developers are lining up.
- Open any parcel to see each criterion, its value, its source and its date. Add sites to a shortlist and turn them into an Opportunity Brief.
What Voltane does not tell you
Voltane is a screening tool. Every result is screening only, not a site suitability determination. Before you commit money to a site you still need:
- Whether a point of interconnection can take your project. That takes an ERCOT screening study and a full interconnection study.
- Who owns the parcel today, or whether it is for sale. Voltane shows no landowner names. Title work is yours.
- Wetland boundaries on the ground. NWI is a mapped inventory, not a delineation.
- Local rules. Some counties and cities have solar ordinances or setbacks we do not fully track.
- Geotechnical, cultural resource, endangered species or drainage findings. Those need site visits and specialists.
See the output
The sample Opportunity Brief is the first page of a real Texas solar brief: the shortlist, the open questions and the source and date on every fact.
Questions buyers ask
How many acres do I need per MW of solar in Texas?
Voltane uses a planning ratio to turn your MW target into a minimum flat, buildable block. Treat it as a screening rule of thumb. Your layout, tracker choice and setbacks set the real number.
Does closer transmission mean the site can connect?
No. Distance to a line or substation is a proxy for how expensive a tie-in might be. Whether the grid can take your project is answered by ERCOT studies, not by distance.
Where does the parcel data come from?
Texas county appraisal district parcels, published statewide by TxGIO StratMap. The 2025 collection has per-county dates between February and July 2025.
Can I see who owns a parcel?
No. Voltane does not show landowner names. You get the parcel outline, acreage and the screening evidence.
Which counties are covered?
Every Texas county in the pipeline, 234 at last build. A few are left out where the source data is missing, and the map says so.
Is a high match a green light?
No. A match is a screening result, not a site suitability determination. It tells you which sites deserve a closer look first.
Further reading
Other ways to use Voltane
- Texas battery storage site screening
- Texas data center site selection, power first
- ERCOT grid and land data, read the right way
- Texas county siting data
- US nuclear candidate sites
Try it on your own county
Free accounts screen Texas on the map. No card needed.