Solar power installations suck away the light of the sun

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The council of the US town of woodland rejected the installation of a small solar array along of Highway 258 by reasoning that those photo-voltaic installations suck away the light of the sun but not only that.

Had it been in Texas I might have understood it better considering that one of the Lone Star State's lawmakers things along the same light as regards to solar and when it comes to wind turbines then, according to him, we have to be really careful as those stop the wind from blowing in the end – as wind is a limited resource – and eventually will stop the Earth from spinning.

But back to Woodland, NC.

Woodland is a sleepy little town nestled in the open spaces of North Carolina. It has 388 inhabitants and between the white farmhouses the Highway 258 snakes along. Along this highway, at the verges, the 21st century was meant to arrive in the form of a solar array. For the inhabitants of the little town a nightmare.

The company – Strata Solar Company – applied to be permitted to install a solar farm along Highway 258 but after protest were raised by the community against those plans the council of Woodland refused to grant permission.

In a town hall meeting residents could voice their objections before council made its decision and enables us a view into this strange way of thinking by many and not just in that community in the USA.

Solar farms as plant killers

A spokesperson for the citizenship called Bobby Mann stated the fear that solar panels would suck up all the energy of the sun. His wife Jane told the audience that she had seen areas where around solar arrays all plants had died because they no longer could get enough sunlight. A former teacher who used to teach science expounded her theory that plants could not longer photosynthesize because there would not be enough sun.

Furthermore, she said, the clusters of cancers in the area could be not coincidence. No one could tell that solar panels were not causing cancer. They did, she stated.

Others claimed that properties near solar arrays would become worthless and would turn the place into a ghost town as everyone would be moving away.

Strata Solar Company tried to counter those arguments and stated – rightly so – that solar panels are only using the light that reaches them and that, on no account, are they cancer causing. But to no avail. The council voted three to one against granting permission for this small solar farm.

Unfortunately the attitude of many lawmakers in the US government is about the same. They too believe that solar panel make the sun go dark and that wind turbines suck all the wind and might even stop the Earth from spinning. No, I am not joking.

© 2018

Private electricity grids fueled by renewable energy the future for communities

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

In “The Lead south Australia” Andrew Spence wrote: 

CONNECTING new housing estates to their own private electricity grids fuelled by renewable energy is the cornerstone of ZEN Energy's plan to put power back in the hands of consumers.

The company has launched ZEN Communities – an “end to end” service from power generation through to networks and retailing to deliver low cost renewable energy direct to entire communities.

ZEN Energy Director of Innovation Richard Turner founded the company in South Australia 11 years ago and has overseen its evolution from solar panel installer to Australia's first dedicated “community energy provider”.

Read more here.

What we are seeing here is, to a degree, the “small is beautiful” approach as it was suggested many decades ago in the book by the same title by John Seymour. 

However, we need to go further than private energy grids to community-owned, to people-owned, energy grids, for energy from renewable sources, and renewable sources here does not just mean solar, or wind, but also methane gas from digesters, which can be used for cooking and heating as well as for generating electricity. 

Only when the people themselves are in control of their own energy production will we be getting somewhere but that, obviously, is not something that our governments and the corporations would like to happen for people who are independent of government and corporations simply cannot be controlled. 

It is for that very reason that, despite all the government rhetoric, red tape makes it very difficult for people to set up their own power system on their homes or in their localities. I mean, really, come one, we just cannot have people do their own thing and be the master of their own energy production. 

© 2015