Solar Panel Farm Meeting
By Kareng
@kareng (68706)
United States
February 26, 2025 12:43pm CST
Our town had a meeting with the people from the Solar Panel Company yesterday evening and everyone was invited to come out and find out more about the "farm."
We decided to go since a friend stopped by our home yesterday after lunch and showed my husband the map of where the panels would be placed. My husband mis-read the map and came inside telling me they were being built adjacent to OUR property.
I was very upset and told him that we needed to go to that meeting. He agreed and we were there at the 6:00 pm start time. We had to sign in and give names, address and phone numbers. I'm sure this will be for them to contact others in the community that they are interested in buying or leasing their property.
We were expecting to hear a presentation by someone or several in the company. That didn't happen. Instead, it was a poster presentation. These posters did not give much information at all. We both looked at the map and I was relieved to see the farm is NOT adjacent to our property, but one property over. Although that is still close for comfort with the health concerns, better than being 50 yards away!
Since this is getting long, I'm going to do a Part 2 so ya'll don't get to tired of reading!
Stay Tuned!
Photo Credit: Pixabay, Public Domain
6 people like this
6 responses
@somewitch (2235)
•
22h
I’ve seen some solar panel farms, I find them to be aesthetically pleasing somehow. They’re far from houses though, so I don’t know what inconvenience they’d cause if built nearby.
2 people like this
@somewitch (2235)
•
19h
@kareng Oh yes, they’re quite close! I hope they won’t cause you any nuisance.
1 person likes this
@kareng (68706)
• United States
15h
@somewitch Our roads will be torn up from all the trucks coming in and out for installation. It's bad enough with log trucks going up and down the two roads here. The project is estimated to be completed in 2029, so we have a long ways to go!
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (142152)
• United States
21h
One question you might ask at a solar farm meeting is whether a habitability study has been done and see if that is publicly available. A solar farm can influence animals to move in or move out of the area depending on the type of animal in question... (Usually, sheep are pastured on solar farms since they fit under and between solar panels. Sheep eat plants down to the ground before moving on to the next area to graze. That could mean more rain runoff onto surrounding farms.)
Downsides to a solar farm can include: Being an eyesore when they take up large amounts of land in a particular area.
Blinding glare from the panels at certain times of the day.
Soil erosion, habitat loss and water and land pollution. Most of the vegetation is lost so nothing gets in the way of the sun reaching the solar panels during the daylight hours. Without vegetation, there will be nothing to catch and hold rain or snow runoff from those acres of land which could damage adjacent properties.
You might also ask about what happens with the solar panels when the solar panel farm is deemed too old to continue working. Some solar farms are left to degrade and leach toxic compounds into the surrounding environment. If you're planning on keeping your land, this might be a large source of concern for you.
1 person likes this
@kareng (68706)
• United States
15h
The meeting was last night, and the habit problem of where they would go is a big concern, since there are plenty of coyotes in the forest here. I don't want them in the woods along our property. There is a big pond there, and also big barn for shelter, so would be a good choice. That would only mean more problems here with the chickens.
I asked about the wetland study and which group did the study. The answer to that one was the head of our environmental program, Ms. xyz. That is a very vague answer because who knows what her credentials are and excuse me, she surveyed all 35,000 acres and did the testing on the whole area. Doesn't add up.
We will have some land in between our property and the solar farms on our back and right. Not sure what is happening across the street. I surely wouldn't want to not be about to open the curtains whenever I wanted, so yes a glare would be horrible.
The last area you mentioned is a big concern and many say there will be water contamination for all of those on well water. We are not, but still a concern, as this would affect our garden.
Just a lot of questions and concerns. Of course, the company denies any toxic emissions, so basically they don't give a *amn!
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (142152)
• United States
14h
@kareng They did tell the truth... partly... As long as the solar farm is functioning, no toxic emissions will be emitted and no dangerous materials will leach into the soils around the solar panel farm... The problems begin when they shut the solar farm down after the solar panels begin to fail. That's when all the bad stuff starts happening related to degradation of the solar panels.
And yes, if they have another meeting, you need to bring up the fact that one person couldn't have sampled everything that quickly...
Who in your community is in charge? A mayor? Ask him/her how much they were promised if they could get you to accept the solar panel farm without getting details about taking the solar panel farm apart and getting rid of the dangerous chemicals and metals after the farm is decommissioned. I bet that person is getting a NICE check as soon as the community agrees to the plan.
Talk to the mayor about getting an independent survey done about the wetland and environmental survey before any of you sign off on this... If there's contamination for well water, then you KNOW it will contaminate the ground water in your area, so ponds, streams and even the water the city pumps up from underground for human consumption could be affected, too.
1 person likes this
@kareng (68706)
• United States
13h
@DaddyEvil It was approved a county panel. That is exactly what we said last night. Someone got a nice check out of this deal. The leases and sale of properties has already taken place quietly over the last year. We as a community just heard about it right before Christmas. It was all hush hush, which also points to things not being up to par.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (51685)
• United States
22h
I hope that you can get some more information about them.
1 person likes this
@kareng (68706)
• United States
15h
Nope, it's pretty much a done deal. We have brochures and I intend to email them over and over again. Didn't get any answers to my questions last night and were just shoved off to another person. And they were both busy talking to other people. The handouts they gave us were all yada yada based on research 10 years ago, so not real valid there.
@lilacskies (6185)
• United States
21h
I hope you can find out more information about them and confirm the adverse risk and dangers of solar farms. This is very concerning.
1 person likes this
@kareng (68706)
• United States
15h
They are currently denying any adverse risks and dangers. Wait until the coyotes come out during the daytime and pay the workers a visit. Let's see how they like that! Also possible for the deer to damage the solar panels. We have deer markings all over the trees on the edge of our property up to 6-7 feet high.
1 person likes this
@lilacskies (6185)
• United States
13h
@kareng That is hilarious! That would teach them!
1 person likes this
