Are any of you guilty of nimbyism - objecting to solar farms?

I don't like the word nimby . When we were living in Malaga the solar farms were endless and a real blot on the landscape. They took hundreds of euros off the cost of people's houses and the farms were despised. We saved for our home and noone should want to devalue our precious asset,after all its the only, most expensive asset you will ever buy.

Once fields are taken up with solar panels, that land is taken out of food production. Contrary to what an earlier poster said on here, the land beneath can't be used for crops as it's hard to harvest them.
This country imports far too much food already without losing more land. I think that space on top of buildings is the way forward - as someone else pointed out, all factories, supermarkets etc have roof space.

I prefer them to wind turbines which are so ooming and intrusive, and noisy too. A field near here being proposed for solar panels, but will be well hidden. No problem with it.

Excellent idea. Make use of the large surfaces that already exist

I would welcome a solar energy farm near us in the area that is being promoted as a suitable place for 2 of the largest prisons in Europe.

We are in a rural area with pretty villages that rely on tourism for the livelihood of local businesses. The roads are narrow country roads with a number of single file bridges, poor public transport and a distance from any railway station. The proposed site is on top of a hilly part of the county so would be visible from a huge area, there would be 24 hour light polution and 24 hour traffic. It is also against the MOJ's own preferment of where prisons should be sited.

So yes, maybe I am guilty of nimbyism where the prisons are proposed but not for a solar energy site.

Not keen on solar panels but I wouldn't object. Needs must and all that

I rather like the windmills. They can look quite beautiful.

I recently learned about agri- solar. Instead of the panels being laid low to the ground they are on 15ft posts. This enables vegetation to grow underneath. Indeed, if growing crops or vegetables there is a greenhouse effect from the panels resulting in 15-30% more growth. Alternatively, the land underneath can be left alone to increase biodiversity. It’s win win. Ok, some people may hate the sight of panels per se but remember they can always be removed in future if technology improves. Without accepting alternative energy sources to reduce carbon emissions there won’t be any future. Time to wake up!

l live in Wiltshire and have done 40+ years. The observation l have made about objections are from people who have moved to the country and only think about the over priced "cottage" of 5+ bedrooms they have bought and will it affect selling. We have a number round here and they are hidden for the most part behind hedges and look no worse than plastic covering that is put over potatoes in Pembrokeshire. My neighbour complained about my roof PV array despite you could only see them from the bottom of the garden and not in her line of sight. As someone said l prefer a solar farm to looking at a Hinkly Point.

I just love to see the solar windmills as I call them lol. I wouldn't object at all

I remember seeing a programme many, many years ago that outlined how the United Kingdom could produce all the energy needed using just the sun, wind and sea. We are an island and we do not use the power of the sea to produce energy. I am not sure why....

We have many solar farms in Devon, I imagine people are getting fed up with the eye sores.

No, I think Solar Farms are a short term solution to our energy problem but I wouldn't mine one near me.

I can understand why people might not want to look out of their windows onto a bank of solar panels or wind turbines, so I think we should perhaps re-think where we want to place them a bit.

I do not care for solar bannks being placed on arable or grazing land - even in the countryside there are various ugly concrete or steel buildings that could well have the bank on their roofs. I feel roofs are the right place as far as possible.

In Denmark we have various restrictions on place a bank of solar panels on your roof - they must not be visible to your neighbours. Reasonable enough? Quite honestly, how much time do any of us spend looking at our neighbours, or our own roofs? In Germany it seems you may place them where you want on your own property - and the neighbours either don't complain, or at least are not listened to if they do.

Wind turbines may not be exactly beautiful to look at, but neither are pylons, factory chimneys, power plants of any other description, parking garages and a long list of other modern technological constructions that we have somehow managed to get used to.

We have quite a lot of wind turbines here, and quite honestly, you notice a new one, but after a short while you see they are there, but that's all there is to it.

I much prefer the thought of wind, solar or water power being used to generate electricity than coal, diesel or atomic power.

Of course if we really want a long term solution to the pollution caused by humans the answer is to reduce the human population to sustainable levels.

I’m not holding my breath?

I think we all have to accept that our landscapes will change dramatically as more solar and wind farms are established. As much as I love our lovely countryside, and rambling, green fields, we have already seen our landscape changed by acres of poly tunnels. It is a changing world and if we want the convenience of home grown power, we have to concede some things. This is the way of the modern world.

Well I'll repeat myself for all the people coming on here to ask the same questions that have already been asked and answered before on this thread.

No source of energy is perfect. (First Law of Thermodynamics, if you want to look it up.)

So however we generate energy in the future, it will not be perfect. We will have to source and manufacture the materials to generate it, deal with the by products and recycle what we can. We cannot continue pumping carbon into the atmosphere and we cannot rely on nuclear because it is even more harmful to the environment than carbon.

I suspect the sources coming up with the issues that surround wind and solar are invested in Oil and Gas, or nuclear. Clock's been ticking for 40 years. Its now or never.

There are objections to a massive one near where I am moored. It will take hundreds of acres of prime farm land... The soil here is amazing. I think all factories and shopping complexes and supermarkets should have solar panels on top of them.

PS. Forgot to say that I would hate to have the fields near me full of solar panels, chose to live in a rural area because of the views amongst other things.

Not exactly on point but I have been considering solar panels on my roof and wonder if any of you gransnetters who already have them have had problems with the wind getting under them or of birds or bats nesting underneath?

Isn't there still a huge question mark on the materials and energy used to manufacture solar panels, same with electric car batteries. We could be solving one problem but adding to another. What's the life expectancy of these solar panel farms? I'm not against the farms but careful consideration has to be given to their location and size. Drive throughout Scotland, the place is covered in wind turbines. Life expectancy in those things is apparently 20 years. How much energy is used to manufacture them?

I don’t see we have any choice or solar pallets on everyone’s homes but can’t see government doing that

kjmpde

i would happily have a solar farm or even a wind farm next to me. I really do not understand how the UK can meet the targets of reducing Co2 if we don't build more renewable sources. john Nettlesand others are totally against them - my question is why.

Read this thread and you'll realise that wind farms can be harmful to human and animal health, which is probably why some people are against them.

Every new building, residential or otherwise, should be required to have solar panels. Germany is far ahead of us in this.

There are lots of empty fields around my current home in the very North of Scotland. The land is fairly poor (I think) and used mainly for sheep farming. I would be happy to see it used for Solar Farms. We have several Wind Farms already, both on land and sea.

Nuclear power is essential for base load and to help with national sufficiency.

Do you have figures to support that assertion? Preferably figures that are not produced by the nuclear industry.