And a second study indicates that having utility scale solar projects in neighborhoods doesn't negatively affect real estate value.

People Are Okay With Wind & Solar Installations In Their Neighborhoods, Studies Say::More neighborhoods than ever are accepting the role of solar and wind power installations near their homes and towns.

  • talEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I don’t see why anyone would care about a solar farm. Maybe they have a raging dislike of the aesthetic or something, but whatever.

    Wind turbines, on the other hand, have at least two significant non-aesthetic issues:

    • Noise. This one doesn’t matter if it’s far enough away, but I could see it being a problem if you’re on top of them.

    • Flashing. This was not something that I’d thought about until I read an article that was quoting people who were really upset about it, but it’s actually an interesting problem. You tend to put wind turbines on ridgelines. The problem is that this also means that they cast enormous shadows when the sun is coming up/down. And the shadows that they cast are moving and flash at a rate determined by the rotational speed of the turbine. It’s apparently extremely obnoxious if you’re in the path of the shadow.