Town fears solar panels 'suck up all energy from sun'

From cancer concerns and job-loss worries to property value plunges – residents of a North Carolina town recently raised a series of objections to plans for a solar farm nearby,

Including the fact that, according to a report in the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, "solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun and businesses would not come to Woodland."

The result was not only that the town officials rejected plans for the latest solar farm, but they also imposed a moratorium on future projects.

The local newspaper said the 3-1 vote to reject the solar farm plan came recently after the town's planning board had suggested approving it. Council members David Cooper, Ron Lane and Pat Liverman rejected the plan.

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The proposal had come from Strata Solar Co., which said it wanted to locate in the area because of an electrical substation through which power can be incorporated into the grid.

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But during a recent public hearing, there was a ton of opposition.

"Jean Barnes said she represented many citizens who rejected any more solar farms coming to the Woodland area and presented a petition to the council," the report said. "Barnes asked that any future solar farm requests be placed on a referendum so the citizens can make the decision."

The newspaper reported a Mary Hobbs, who has lived in the area for 40 years, said he was seeing it turn into a ghost town – and her home now is flanked by solar farms that have cut its value.

Bobby Mann warned, "You're killing your town. All the young people are going to move out."

"He said the solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun and businesses would not come to Woodland," the report said.

Jane Mann, a retired Northampton science teacher, said she was concerned that "photosynthesis, which depends upon sunlight, would not happen and would keep the vegetation from growing," the report said.

She explained she has seen areas near solar panels "where vegetation is brown and dead because it did not receive enough sunlight."

She also raised concerns about cancer.

Supporters of the idea confirmed there were no toxic materials on site, and it was a "tried and true" energy generation technology.

After rejecting the specific plan, the council voted for a moratorium on future solar farms, the report said.

The Independent, in the United Kingdom, described the decision as a result of "fear and mistrust."

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