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The title of this article puts (single) quotes around the phrase "suck up all the energy from the sun", but it is not a quote. From reading the more direct sour

The title of this article puts (single) quotes around the phrase "suck up all the energy from the sun", but it is not a quote. From reading the more direct source, this looks like the true rejection: > 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.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
> During the Woodland Town Council meeting, one local man, Bobby Mann, said solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun and businesses would not go to Woodland, the Roanoke-Chowan News Herald reported. > 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)
- TrevorJ 11y ago
  To be fair, if the plants are under solar panels then yeah, that's a valid point. Sounds more like people who don't want the land used for this and are seizing on any argument they can to gum up the works.
- DrScump 11y ago
  As an American, I apologize for the poor reading skills of this comment's author. 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."
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Can you explain the problem with having parcels rezoned for solar generation in a town under 800 people? The location was picked precisely because of the nearby transmission substation.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

> During the Woodland Town Council meeting, one local man, Bobby Mann, said solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun and businesses would not go to Woodland, the Roanoke-Chowan News Herald reported. > 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)

TrevorJ 11y ago
To be fair, if the plants are under solar panels then yeah, that's a valid point. Sounds more like people who don't want the land used for this and are seizing on any argument they can to gum up the works.
DrScump 11y ago
As an American, I apologize for the poor reading skills of this comment's author. 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."
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Can you explain the problem with having parcels rezoned for solar generation in a town under 800 people? The location was picked precisely because of the nearby transmission substation.