US town rejects solar panels fearing they 'suck up all the energy from the sun'
independent.co.uk
independent.co.uk
> She added that the only people profiting are the landowners who sell their land, the solar companies, and the electrical companies. [...] The town would not benefit from the solar farms because they are not located within the town limits, but only in the extraterritorial sections. The only funding the town would get is about $7,000 per year to train the fire department in case something goes wrong.
Ie, they have a point of leverage (zoning) and they want the solar companies to pay more (with taxes or other development projects) for the right to develop that land. I'm not sure whether I'd take their side or not, but they're clearly not stupid.
> Jane Mann, a retired science teacher, said she was concerned the panels would prevent plants in the area from photosynthesizing, stopping them from growing.
> Ms Mann said she had seen areas near solar panels where plants are brown and dead because they did not get enough sunlight.
> She also questioned the high number of cancer deaths in the area, saying no one could tell her solar panels didn't cause cancer.
As an American, I apologize for the ignorance (and I'm being generous) of the residents of Woodland, North Carolina (Population: 766)
If you actually read the original source, there was a grand total of one couple that was quoted as saying anything like what the Independent's headline attributed to the town as a whole.
Read further, and you will find that the question before the meeting was not about the merits of solar power but that the company wanted additional parcels of land rezoned, parcels that were not intended for industrial use in the first place. They have been able to put solar farms anywhere else they wanted that was zoned appropriately.
The area already has a substantial installed base of solar. Quoting the article: "Three other solar farms had previously been accepted by the town council, with one of the (sic) now putting solar panels up."
http://www.roanoke-chowannewsherald.com/2015/12/08/woodland-...
And see what they really said/meant they sound far far less crazy. It's pretty clear they don't think solar panels are using up the energy from the sun.
[Jane Mann] is a retired Northampton science teacher and is concerned that photosynthesis, which depends upon sunlight, would not happen and would keep the plants from growing. She said she has observed areas near solar panels where the plants are brown and dead because they did not get enough sunlight.
If you put a plant next to, or under, a solar panel, it won't get enough direct sunlight. But "areas near solar panels" would probably be deforested anyway.
Another two excerpts from that article, I'm not sure they are much more reasonable than stated by the OP.
She also questioned the high number of cancer deaths in the area, saying no one could tell her that solar panels didn’t cause cancer.
[Bobby Mann] said the solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun and businesses would not come to Woodland.