In 1979, during one of the nation’s energy crises prompted by the Arab Oil Embargo, President Jimmy Carter ordered the installation of 32 solar panels on the roof of the White House. Energy derived directly from the sun was still a novel concept in the 1970s, and Carter sought to lead by example. At the time, he predicted the panels would “either be a curiosity, a museum piece, (or) an example of a road not taken...”Even though his successor as president, Ronald Reagan, ordered the panels removed in 1986, Americans have (if you pardon the pun) warmed to solar energy. And why not? It consumes no fossil fuels, doesn’t contribute to climate change, and the price of solar panels has dropped dramatically in recent years.
That said, I have some reservations about how solar panels are deployed here in Vermont. Every time we head north on Interstate 89 past the vast solar array next to the highway, my wife laments the fact that an entire, rolling Vermont field has been taken over by solar panels. The proposed solar field near Windsor has met with opposition for similar reasons.
Now a company based in New York City wants to build four solar farms in Vermont, and according to news reports, each would be ten times larger than any existing array in the state. If the project comes to fruition, an additional 837 acres of land here in Vermont would be blanketed with solar panels.
One possible alternative occurs to me when I remember that for years now, when flying into major airports across the country, I’ve noticed row upon row of warehouses with flat, empty roofs that would seem an ideal location for rows of solar panels.
Here in Vermont, we too have warehouses with flat roofs, big-box stores and strip malls, as well as gas stations, and even old mill structures either no longer in use or converted to other uses. Placing panels on these roof tops could provide additional income for landlords while keeping the panels from cluttering up our small towns and village greens, open fields and rolling hills.
Solar panels are an important component of energy in the twenty-first century. But we must find a way to tap into the advantages of solar power without compromising the natural, rustic beauty of Vermont.
