Even earlier than the November votes to defeat the wind venture in Montcalm County, builders reached out to farmers who had beforehand signed wind leases to see if they might be keen to signal the leases. lease to place photo voltaic arrays on their land. Michigan’s largest working photo voltaic park opened in Shiawassee County in 2022, and covers 1,200 acres. That park alone will generate 347 megawatts of electrical energy, sufficient to energy 138,000 houses. A 125-megawatt photo voltaic improvement close to Hart, in West Michigan close to Pentwater, is anticipated to return on-line in 2023.
Tony Chartrand, supervisory engineer for municipal utility Traverse Metropolis Mild & Energy, instructed Bridge Michigan that utilities need to develop solar energy. Putting in photo voltaic panels on the location the place the town’s landmark wind turbine as soon as stood is an instance of that.
When the turbine was erected in 1996, “we needed to make a press release that we have been pondering forward,” Chartrand stated. At present, it appears that evidently “all the things is constructed” photo voltaic.
Close to Traverse Metropolis, land values are too excessive to lease or purchase a number of hundred acres for a photo voltaic park, Chartrand stated, although he added that “they must go someplace.”
“There’s an entire lot extra photo voltaic improvement within the state proper now than wind, and I believe a number of that’s going in opposition to wind,” stated Sarah Mills, senior venture supervisor for Graham Vitality. Futures Initiative on the College of Michigan. Mills performed a examine of wind tasks in 4 Midwest states together with Michigan, titled “Farmers versus Lakers,” which discovered “pure facilities” reminiscent of lakes close to a proposed wind power utility venture that will increase the opposition.
In essence, virtually all over the place individuals have houses on the lake, residents do not wish to take a look at the generators, a few of which may be as tall as 600 ft, taller than the primary towers of the Mackinac Bridge.
Whereas the photo voltaic parks cowl giant expanses of land, there’s hope that the tasks will generate much less opposition as a result of they are often hidden from the general public by fences or bushes. Obstacles are sometimes required by metropolis ordinances approving power tasks.
A warning signal for the state and builders, nevertheless, is Monroe County, the place residents against photo voltaic arrays positioned on the farm managed to a minimum of briefly cease a brand new venture. The county, alongside the Ohio border, has a 150-acre, 20 megawatt photo voltaic park (sufficient to energy 3,500 houses) now in operation, however a second improvement was placed on maintain after officers in Milan and Dundee metropolis put a moratorium on improvement till they. can examine the venture extra. In each cities, officers confronted group opposition to the photo voltaic parks.
A web site criticizing photo voltaic power in Milan Township lists related considerations as these typically raised by wind opponents – claims starting from property values declining close to renewable power improvement, to destructive impacts on well being from issues like an electromagnetic subject emitted by photo voltaic arrays.
The World Well being Group says that low ranges of electromagnetic fields emitted by photo voltaic parks are usually not harmful. And a 2013 examine by the Lawrence Berkeley Nationwide Laboratory in California discovered no destructive impression on the worth of houses close to bigger wind generators. A 2016 examine revealed within the Journal of Actual Property Analysis discovered “no vital impact” on gross sales close to generators in Massachusetts, however discovered a destructive impact on dwelling values close to main roads. or transmission traces.
The Ostrander household signed a lease to permit photo voltaic improvement on 150 acres of the Milan Township farm that has been of their household for 154 years. The venture is at present in limbo after city officers put a moratorium on renewable power tasks.
Each Clara and Leonard Ostrander have full-time jobs, and hire their fields to neighboring farmers for corn and soybeans. The household can make cash by renting land for renewable power.
“I am making an attempt to maintain all the things going, making an attempt to maintain each homes (on the property) the identical over 100 years outdated, and it is a monetary pressure to do it,” Clara Ostrander stated. “The lease will give us some monetary safety to maintain the farm going, I do not wish to promote it.”
