I received this in an email last week from a reader who was at the Village Council meeting Monday in connection with her job and, therefore, wishes to remain anonymous:
Last Monday I was at the Village Council meeting and there was a presentation from the marketing guy at AMP Ohio about participating in a program for renewable solar energy. Council is considering his proposal and one of the things they will be thinking about is where we might put a solar array (need a minimum of 3 acres, I believe, but the more the better). Ideas about the Glass farm and the Antioch Golf Course came up as possible sites. The big issue is taking the land out of use for either development or for farming. That got me to thinking, what land is close to the power station (the closer the better) and isn't good for agriculture or development. Then it hit me, Vernay's land. They could still own it and collect rent and we could put "tainted" land to good use. The one obstacle would be that it is in a prominent entryway to the village. But would people really view the solar panels as "ugly" or would they appreciate the "beauty" of this renewable energy source. Perhaps the biggest obstacle is the village/Vernay relationship.
Editor's note: This idea makes too much sense to actually be implemented. Let the nay-saying begin!
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9 comments:
Instead of taking yet more land out of its natural state, I still wonder why the flat roofs of buildings, particularly warehouses, big-box retail, etc., are not covered in solar panels. I've read that BP is doing that to many of their gas stations, but why isn't it more prevelant?
You make a good point. But in this particular instance, there is very little that is natural about the Vernay property, which has deliberately been taken out of use by its owners to prevent further lawsuits. It is hard to imagine how placing solar panels on the property could thwart that end. At least it would be put back in use for something productive.
Surely the artists in town could figure out what to do with the array as an entry point for the Village.
I don't see how putting solar panels on that land could be considered any uglier than it is now...at least it would be put to use by the village. Some solar panels are quite striking looking!
Good thinking. I like the idea.
I have no issue with using the Vernay land; it's certainly better than letting it sit barren, unusable for anything at all. I just think the powers that be are thinking too narrowly when looking for places to put a solar array.
What about the fact that the property is privately owned? What makes people presume that Vernay would be willing to put solar panels on their property?
The writer quite clearly is not assuming that Vernay will go along with it. However, there is always eminent domain, which Vernay would probably welcome.
Eminent domain only if the Village doesn't end up with the clean up cost as a final clean up solution for Vernay * hasn't been chosen by US EPA yet and further cleanup activity could occur.
My brother works for Sun Edison, the largest commercial supplier of solar energy in the US. He has engineered systems to place solar panel arrays on Super Fund and other toxic waste sites.
Sun Edison is interesting because they contract with municipalities and businesses to sell the power to them at cheaper than the going rate while Sun owns, installs, and maintains the panels, so there is no expense except paying for the power.
http://www.sunedison.com/
Kohls Department Store, Staples Office Supply,
and Whole Foods use Sun Edison where the panels are on the building roofs.
Many municipalities have found that price per kWh is cheaper with Sun Edison as well.
All the roofs of downtown could be used as well.
*US EPA Vernay Cleanup Information:
http://www.epa.gov/reg5rcra/wptdiv/sites/vernay/
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