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Comment by izzydata | Hacker News Reader

Solar farms don't produce toxic fumes or excessive noise. I think they also look cool. I've never been near a wind turbine so I don't know what it would sound like. Maybe don't put one 10 feet from my front door and I'm fine.

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I would gladly take a wind turbine by my house, especially if it meant drones were restricted from flying near it.

Are you drones a problem near your house?

It prevents them from ever being a problem being flown near a house

In my neighborhood, a drone would likely be shot down if it were over someone else's property.

If the war in Ukraine has taught me anything, it’s that you’re unlikely to be able to shoot down a drone if you even notice it at all.

IDK. My neighbor is pretty good hitting clay pigeons.

So am I. Drone moves very differently from clay pigeons. But now I'd like to try...

This summer we had a drone hovering high over the community pool, spying on women and teens sunbathing. We never managed to figure out where it was coming from.

Not currently, but it is definitely something I worry about for the future. I'm pretty adamant in my support for (relative) peace and quiet in public spaces, but recently those around me have seemed to care less and less, which worries me.

For the time being, just living close to a small airport should do.

Wind turbines are pretty noisy, so you might not want it right next to your house. That's a bit like living next to a high way.

Edit: OK, since this topic is fairly controversial I just wanted to say that it's probably not as loud as a highway, but it is noisy!

There is a wind farm by the highway east of Seattle. I enjoy looking at them when I drive through that area.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Horse_Wind_Farm

The wind farm driving east from LA into Palm Springs is really fun to drive through as well, it has 1,224 wind turbines!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gorgonio_Pass_wind_farm

The benefit of utility scale solar is, if the land is going to be developed, it’s one of the lowest impact land uses one could have near them. It’s just quiet glass and steel, and will remain as such for 20-30 years (at which point everything might be removed, or the install is repowered with new panels and the old panels recycled). This is likely preferable to industrial or other higher impact development, and kicks the can fighting against those land uses decades into the future.

If the land is getting developed no matter what, I recommend folks strongly advocating for solar.

Also no evidence of impact on property values:

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2023/10/03/large-solar-projects-...

https://www.conservativetexansforenergyinnovation.org/wp-con...

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