I am always wondering why the US scores so well on these "ease of doing business" rankings??? Even taking into account that this was a risky business idea, relying on subsidies etc., both property and interconnection to me seem like areas where the legislation could be clear and predictable. Adding in the ever-present risk of litigation in the US, I wonder if my stock portfolio is maybe a bit too reliant on this mark…
No mineral rights like Texas, except for the occasional lignite open-pit mining, but that is very limited to certain regions. And even then, you'd be reimbursed handsomely for your troubles and the torn down equipment and land.
Grid connection would have been easier, because the electricity company is required to provide timely and cheap connections to the next sufficient connection point. However, there are exceptions, if they can prove that they cannot get contractors, so you have to wait some time, usually two to three years after you sign the contract for the connection.
Before connection contract signing, you need to enter an auction for the price of the power you will be providing. Fixed for 20 years. However, those 20 years start at signature, so the first 2 to 3 are wasted because of no connection. And you are competing with tons of other solar installations, so you can't really predict your profits when planning. Btw. they can even fail to connect you after you already built your plant for the same reason, so you may either wait or risk it...
Then you have to get approval from the local planning bureau. For that you need a number of assessments: You need to prove that there is no environmental impact, e.g. on rare species of vermin and weeds, no impact on nearby population e.g. through noise, reflection, or other annoyances. Then you have to get approval for the land-use change, because usually you are building on land zoned agrarian use, that has to be changed (and usually can never be changed back, so the land is worthless afterwards even if you don't actually build). You have to get approval from various environmental protection agencies that certify you are not in any kind of protected zone, or if you are (half of Germany is), then you are not affecting anything important (which is a 50/50 chance). Then your plans have to be submitted for public review, where local groups of busybodies, can enter their objections. If there are objections, the approval can be delayed or denied. You can of course "bribe" the public with a few well-placed donations to local groups, or by declaring your enterprise to be open to local investment for which you then sell shares and hand our corresponding parts of your profits. This of course necessitates a change in legal form, which of course needs another few rounds with lawyers, tax advisors, the tax office and a whole lot of due diligence because you are now handing out shares to small investors, which is kind of protected and therefore complicated...
Believe me, the OP's story is very harmless compared to what this would take here, even though the above is the simplified process after a few rounds of laws that were intended to accelerate building green energy.
P.S.: You need a fence and cameras. First because no insurance will allow it without the fence, some idiot kid could climb a panel and fall. Second because there are professional solar panel thieves around here, stealing them at night by the truckload.