The decreasing cost of solar PVs is making them a viable non-wire alternative for rural areas considering infrastructure improvements. However, the intermittency and non-dispatchability of solar generation limits this possibility. Using real data from a small farming town in Kansas, this work analyzes the use of a combined community-scale solar farm and battery energy storage system as a non-wire alternative. In this work, various battery energy storage system operating strategies - such as fixed time discharging, outage mitigation, peak shaving, and market event mitigation - are considered. These operating strategies are evaluated based on financial viability for the utility, impact on battery life, and reliability of power supplied to the community served. The results and analysis provide useful insight regarding economic and reliability impacts with respect to the functionality and complexity of battery energy storage operating strategies.