Rotating panels called "trackers" are 20 to 40 percent more efficient
than traditional photovoltaic panels that are mounted on roofs. They
have a footprint that ranges from 15 by 18 feet to 16 by 22 feet and are
mounted on three-foot bases.
These panels are appearing in open fields and on prime ag land at
various locations throughout The Valley, including on fields where a
house could not be built because of local restrictions against
development in the middle of open lands.
Both Waitsfield and Warren have zoning ordinances that require nestling
houses at the edges of open fields, particularly prime ag fields. In
Warren, the legality of the open meadow law was challenged all the way
to the Vermont Supreme Court -where it was upheld.
However, the installation of solar panels, traditional or trackers, does
not require local permitting if the energy generated is going to be fed
into the grid. These types of installations are governed by the Vermont
Public Service Board, which is supposed to consider local ordinances
and local Town Plans when permitting photovoltaic systems.
Renewable energy is where the future lies, but we also need to give a
thought to the visual and agricultural landscape that define The Valley
and Vermont. The state highways through The Valley are designated as
scenic highways and Route 100B north of Moretown is so scenic it cannot
withstand the undue adverse aesthetic impact of a rock quarry.
What will be the visual impact of fields and fields of rotating
rectangles of photovoltaics? Should we be asking the Public Service
Board to site them with more care? Should growing food take precedence
over growing energy? Regardless of the imperative, both financial and
moral, to make the transition to renewable energy sources, we also have
an imperative to consider the visual and, ultimately, agricultural
impacts of such systems.
-LAL
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