US town rejects solar panels amid fears they 'suck up all the energy from the sun'

[Deleted]

I will give them this:

The area underneath the panels, where they cast a shadow, receives less sunlight than before. In that regard, yes, plants directly beneath the panels may not be able to photosynthesise as well. Of course you can also achieve this effect with 2 short planks, something that these people are as thick as.

land under panels is usually used for grazing. so there is more than enough light to grow grazing crops.

[Forgettable]

Ignorance, ignorance everywhere!

[Aori]

The abuse of the Sun has to stop! We all can't just tap into its power grid like some cable box!

Just an fyi, Woodland's population is only like 700ish. The town meeting that involved this probably had 15 residents.

[Nynax]

Yeah, don't they know that by absorbing the direct sunlight instead of reflecting or scattering it they actually do slightly lower the ambient light level of their immediately surrounding environment and that such a statement isn't as absurd as it actually sounds. And that nobody AFAIK has actually done any studies on if and how much the reduction in ambient light levels by the presence of solar panels actually effects nearby vegetation. Also most of the sunlight they do absorb ends up being released as waste heat into the surrounding environment. When if they weren't there more of the light might have otherwise reflected off the ground and gone elsewhere.

I mean, I'd rather see a town powered by solar panels than coal. But to suggest that the solar panels do not and can not have an environmental impact is just naive.

Your post has been totally overlooked in the article bashing, but ya know...I hadn't considered how panels might affect light reflection. which is an interesting point to make. I highly doubt it would have anywhere near the effect the ex-"teacher" claims, but it is interesting to consider nonetheless.

Ultimately though, it's hard to imagine a solar farm having any significant impact beyond "plants around the panels get 5% less light," unless the farm is like...the size of a small city.

[timberx]

Surprised some specific posters on this forum haven't entered this thread yet and responded with something along the lines of "good for them for saving the sun."

[Aori]

land under panels is usually used for grazing. so there is more than enough light to grow grazing crops.

Grass has to have some sunlight to grow, even just a couple hours a day.

[Tijuana]

The stupid, it burns. Some people just don't think. Solar panels aren't goddamn "sun vaccums," they don't pull rays from the air and direct them into their dark heartless little cells. Barring mechanical failure, a solar panel can gather sunlight for the next five billion years without affecting the ground next to it.

How do people get this ignorant? And why are people this ignorant listened to?

I'm pretty sure the viable life span of a solar panel is something less than 5 billion years. Just sayin...

[geniebsmart]

Americans lol

[Cthulhu 2020]

North Carolina, not California.

Also, not surprising, the Carolinas are not known for producing the greatest of human beings.

And some of the worst.

[Rukh]

I'll be watching snopes for this to get listed.

[Aori]

Americans lol

Pretty sure we can find these types of people anywhere in the world.

[Independent voter]

Could you specify in the title that it was just one guy from North Carolina? lol

[Tijuana]

One hick in NC = the whole town = the whole state = the whole country

Welcome to MMO-C, home of nation bashing run wild.

[Dellis0991]

My head hurts from healing about that.

[Sunseeker]

I'm absolutely without words.

[Dellis0991]

So.. enlighten me. Is North Carolina one of those part of the country, where it is common practice, to repopulate with your sister?
Because that would explain a lot.

yup that explains this, it just have to.

[twelvethirty]

thank god for the south, forever keeping down the rest of the country

[Ciddy]

Wow.

picard-facepalm.jpg

[Fahrenheit]

Based on just the title, one could surmise the general location of said town either being in the South or Midwest. Shockingly, I was proven correct.

[Theinquisition]

People are stupid all over the world.

People in NC think that solar panels will absorb all their sunlight


People in Europe believe that absorbing hundreds of thousands of people from cultures that believe in killing gays, atheists, and women will enrich their culture.