Ep 49: How Landowners Can Retire with Solar Leasing

by Dakota Malone | Mar 5, 2025

Dakota explains how solar leasing can help landowners—particularly farmers—generate passive income and build generational wealth without selling their property. He outlines the many benefits of solar leasing, including long-term contracts, minimal maintenance, and environmental impact, and describes the company’s turnkey process for evaluating land and managing developer negotiations. Interested landowners can begin the qualification process through the company’s website and benefit from a streamlined, expert-led approach to clean energy development.

Introduction to Solar Leasing (0:00 – 0:31)

Dakota Malone, co-founder of Community Solar Authority, opens the episode by discussing how his team is helping landowners—especially farmers—turn their raw land into passive income through solar leasing. Without needing to sell their property, landowners can earn significantly more per acre than traditional leasing methods. Community Solar Authority focuses on helping families create long-term, generational wealth through clean energy development.

The Solar Leasing Opportunity (0:31 – 1:13)

The U.S. is undergoing a massive renewable energy expansion, and solar developers are actively searching for suitable land. Because there is a limited supply of viable sites, landowners are uniquely positioned to benefit by leasing their land. Community Solar Authority offers a fully turnkey process—at no cost to the landowner—to evaluate the opportunity and guide them through every step of the transaction.

Top 10 Benefits of Solar Leasing (1:13 – 3:10)

Dakota outlines ten key benefits of solar leasing for landowners:

Steady, long-term income (20–25+ years).
Low risk—developers assume financial responsibility.
Eco-friendly—supports sustainability goals.
Increased land value through revenue-generating use.
Stability for families via long-term contracts.
Low maintenance, as developers handle all operations.
Tax protections, with developers absorbing most liabilities.
Community benefits, including job creation.
Income diversification for landowners.
Environmental stewardship, contributing to clean energy transition.

Solar leasing stands out as one of the most powerful exit strategies for farmers and landowners seeking a passive retirement plan or financial legacy.

How Qualification Works (3:10 – 4:39)

Community Solar Authority pre-qualifies land by running a property through its internal solar leasing checklist—free of charge. Landowners simply submit their parcel ID and address, and the team determines viability within a week. Key criteria include:

Easy access and flat, clear land
At least 10–30 acres
Close proximity to substations and three-phase power
Adequate sunlight and no flood risks
Access to state and local solar incentives

Landowners don’t need to understand these criteria themselves—Community Solar Authority handles all the research, making the process seamless.

The Development Process (4:39 – 5:01)

If the property passes initial checks, the team moves into site control and begins utility and development studies. This process typically takes 12 to 18 months—it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, but a strategic plan to create a long-term income-producing asset that benefits families for generations.

How Community Solar Authority Delivers (5:02 – 5:33)

Community Solar Authority manages the entire project for the landowner:

Land qualification
Getting multiple developer offers
Evaluating and negotiating the best lease terms
Reviewing contracts and ensuring clarity
Managing expectations and timelines

Their proven systems and relationships helped them qualify thousands of acres in 2023 and 2024 alone.

Getting Started (5:34 – 6:00)

Landowners interested in solar leasing can begin by visiting lease.communitysolarauthority.com. For those wanting to explore further, searching “Dakota Malone Solar Leasing” on Google reveals a wealth of podcasts and resources. Dakota invites listeners to connect with him directly on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/dakotamalone.

Conclusion

Solar leasing is an accessible and transformative opportunity for landowners to secure passive income, support clean energy, and build a financial legacy. With expert guidance from Community Solar Authority, the process becomes simple, strategic, and completely turnkey.

To listen to the full episode… go to Spotify to listen.

Want to CONNECT on LinkedIN? Go here

If you’re new to my channel, my name is Dakota Malone. I’m a co-founder of Community Solar Authority. We’re a commercial solar developer & consultant on a mission to streamline clean energy deployment.

We deliver turnkey access to community solar for large users of electricity, & our company has unlocked access to $20M+ in future electricity savings for our clients.

Today, we’re focused on educating municipalities, corporations, stakeholders- & other entities consuming lots of electricity to help them benefit from the trillion-dollar clean energy economy.

To our future procurement, facilities, & finance teams we speak to.. we’re here to serve you well with this content ahead of time so that we have a productive conversation when we meet.

Want to access enhanced sustainability & improved operating profit in 90 days?

Book a call and get started.
Here In Service,
Dakota

Read the transcript

(0:00 – 0:12)
Hey guys, this is Dakota Malone. I co-founded Community Solar Authority. Today I’m talking about all things solar leasing and how we’re helping farmers retire and create generational wealth without having to sell their property.

(0:13 – 0:31)
We turn raw land into passive income and help farmers retire. Some landowners lease their property for a few hundred bucks an acre, but we’re helping them get well over into multiple thousands of dollars per acre without having to sell their property. My name is Dakota Malone and I co-founded Community Solar Authority Development.

(0:31 – 0:45)
We’re a commercial solar developer that works with property owners and helps them create generational wealth through solar leasing. This podcast goes further into the solar leasing opportunity for landowners. Let me give you an overview of the opportunity.

(0:46 – 1:13)
Did you know the US is collectively deploying a surge of renewables from coast to coast? This is the landowner’s guide to solar leasing and how we help you monetize your land without charging you to do it. In our world, there is a massive demand for solar farms to help produce clean energy for our grids and a limited supply of land that fits the criteria. Within this dilemma is your opportunity to earn income from your land for decades by leasing it to a solar developer.

(1:13 – 1:32)
This is a deep dive to help you understand if solar leasing is a good fit for you, your family, and your property. We’ll also help you do the entire transaction turnkey, ensuring that you get a fair deal and are utilizing our decade-plus of solar development experience. First, it’s important to understand the big benefits that come with solar leasing.

(1:33 – 1:44)
One, you can receive steady income for decades. Two, it is minimal risk as solar developers are assuming all financial risks. Three, it’s eco-friendly.

(1:45 – 1:59)
By leasing your land for solar, you are supporting and promoting environmental sustainability. Four, increased land value. You can naturally enhance the value of your property if it comes with some sort of revenue generation on it.

(1:59 – 2:10)
Five, long-term contracts. This allows you to secure a long-term lease, typically 20 to 25 years plus, for stability for you and your family. Six, low maintenance.

(2:11 – 2:23)
Operation and maintenance is all handled by the solar developer, and this is a completely passive income opportunity. Seven, tax benefits. We work to ensure that you remain unaffected by tax changes.

(2:23 – 2:37)
Most of the time, if anything changes in regards of the world of taxes, the developer takes it on. Eight, community benefits. You can help create local jobs and drive economic development by leasing your land for solar.

(2:38 – 2:45)
Nine, diversification. You can diversify your income sources by leasing your land. And 10, environmental stewardship.

(2:46 – 3:10)
By leasing your land for solar, you are supporting the transition into enhanced sustainability. With these benefits considered, solar leasing is one of the highest available exit strategies to create an asset for retirement and is totally worth looking into. The good news is that we deliver all of the work required to help you investigate the opportunity and provide all the education necessary to help you make the simple decision to lease your land.

(3:10 – 3:27)
I mentioned there are only a limited amount of properties that qualify for solar leasing, and we run them through our checklist to determine if it’s worth exploring together. So let me tell you about our solar leasing checklist. When we talk to landowners, we have them submit their parcel ID, address, and any other relevant information to get started.

(3:28 – 3:50)
Our team will do all of the work required for free to determine if the property is a good fit or not. We can figure this out typically within a week without having to visit the property, and if it looks good to us, we’ll work with you to see if we can bring the project to life. When we’re first reviewing your property, we’re running it through our checklist that we’ve created as a way to filter through the most likely rate of success.

(3:50 – 3:57)
And so here’s what that checklist sounds like. Your land has easy access. Your parcel is at least 10 to 30 acres.

(3:58 – 4:07)
Your land has state and local incentives for solar development. Your land is flat, bare, and not in a floodplain. Your closest substation has room for solar.

(4:08 – 4:16)
Your land is close to three-phase power lines. Your land receives adequate sunlight. And your land is less than a mile to the substation.

(4:17 – 4:39)
Again, you don’t need to know any of this information for you to get the result of passive income from a solar developer. This is simply part of the research that we do for you with our team to do all of the initial checks to see if we can get you qualified. If your property checks out from this list, we’ll work to establish site control for your property to continue with utility studies and development work.

(4:39 – 5:01)
This is not an overnight process, and solar leasing can take 12 to 18 months to get to building the asset on-site. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but rather an intentional process to help you build an asset that you can hold in your family for decades to come. In conclusion, we work with landowners to help them benefit from the trillion-dollar clean energy economy.

(5:02 – 5:17)
You can work with us, and our expert team handles the entire project for you while making sure you get a fair deal. We do it all. We qualify your land, get multiple offers from different solar developers, handle evaluation and due diligence on top offers.

(5:17 – 5:33)
We negotiate the highest lease payment for you we can. We review your agreement and answer any questions, and we manage expectations and keep you well-informed. In 2023 and 2024, we qualified thousands of acres using our process systems and relationships.

(5:34 – 5:52)
Will your property be next? You can visit lease.communitysolarauthority.com to get started today. And if you wanna do additional research, you can type in Dakota Malone Solar Leasing on Google, and you will see many podcasts that I have done talking about this subject. Thanks for tuning in.

(5:53 – 6:00)
Please connect with me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com slash in slash Dakota Malone, and I will catch you guys on the next episode.