Solar Farms

[Bob Mulder]

In North Carolina there has been a lot of activity building solar farms. Nearby residential property owners often express the opinion that a solar farm will adversely affect their property values. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Meandering]

Do nearby owners express WHY they think their property values are impacted? Not like solar farms make noise. Not like they make smells, okay, maybe a fried crow here and there. Not like the solar farms require truck traffic. Is there some kind of reflective effect from the panels they are concerned about?

Wind farms, they spread shredded birds around sometimes, but you said solar farms.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Some may argue that these solar panels are unsightly and destroy any view amenity.

66.5 MW-dc Chocolate Mountains Solar Farm, located in Imperial County California.

 

[Meandering]

Well then ugly is ugly, and a view obstruction, is a view obstruction. same thing happens if they build a taller building. Somebody gets an obstructed view, or a changed view. But what was their view before it was built? did every property look out over the same site that is now the solar farm?

 

[Bob Mulder]

Do nearby owners express WHY they think their property values are impacted? Not like solar farms make noise. Not like they make smells, okay, maybe a fried crow here and there. Not like the solar farms require truck traffic. Is there some kind of reflective effect from the panels they are concerned about?

Wind farms, they spread shredded birds around sometimes, but you said solar farms.

I don't at this point in time know, but I suspect I will soon (possible new assignment). One worry I have heard is that if a solar facility is shut down, who gets rid of the panels? A recent facility was approved in Robeson County NC placed that responsibility on the owner. Duke/Progress Energy will be buying power from this solar farm for 15 years.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Solar Panels & Their Toxic Emissions
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/01/solar-panels-toxic-emissions/

Solar cells use a known carcinogenic called gallium arsenide. This is not believed to be a problem as long as the panels are intact. However, if they end up in a landfill, the panels will be broken and the toxins can leech into the soil.

More than 63% of the CdTe found in our bodies is attributed to the fertilizers used for plants — never-the-less, it is also in solar panels.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Well then ugly is ugly, and a view obstruction, is a view obstruction. same thing happens if they build a taller building. Somebody gets an obstructed view, or a changed view. But what was their view before it was built? did every property look out over the same site that is now the solar farm?

You know, animals, plants, and insects are displaced when a large grid array of panels are covering the ground.

 

[Meandering]

That is interesting, because we have some solar farms surrounded by trees. So I would bet that some of the wind and ice storms bring down branches and/or whole trees that could damage some panels. So does the arsenide escape as a gas? a liquid? a solid? will it leach into the ground water?

 

[Meandering]

You know, animals, plants, and insects are displaced when a large grid array of panels are covering the ground.

And new ones take up homes in the shade. We have some paper wasps here that would love to hang out under that array of panels. And field mice. Yikes, they could eat fried bugs all day and night.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

That is interesting, because we have some solar farms surrounded by trees. So I would bet that some of the wind and ice storms bring down branches and/or whole trees that could damage some panels. So does the arsenide escape as a gas? a liquid? a solid? will it leach into the ground water?

Pollution, traffic dust, leaves and even bird droppings contribute to preventing sunlight from reaching the solar cells in your solar panels.

The more dirt – the lower amount of electricity they will produce. While many factors affect how much electricity your solar panels will produce – dirty solar panels can be one of the biggest. That loss may range as high as 25% in some areas according to the National Renewable Energy laboratory. Individual dealers have reported losses as high as 30% for some customers who failed to ever clean their panels.

Imagine doing this on a commercial scale solar PV site: