Galway considers moratorium on solar arrays

 

GALWAY — The rural landscape is transitioning from green fields of corn and soybean to another green crop — solar panels.

 

 

While solar arrays are arguably one way to guide the world away from fossil fuels, their proliferation is raising concerns across the region as forests are felled, endangered birds are threatened with displacement and residents rage they are unsightly. 

 

One community, Galway, is trying to get ahead of the issue by considering a moratorium on large solar arrays, both as a way to pause their rapid growth around the region and as part of the town's current crafting of its comprehensive plan. 

 

“Solar arrays are kind of a football,” said Supervisor Michael Smith, who has called for a public hearing on the matter on Jan. 3, 2023. “I think they are good and have a place. I’m not opposed to them, but if you are cutting down acres of woods, what is the net benefit?”

 

He also said that residents who have built expensive homes don’t want to look in their backyard to see rows of metallic and glass panels. At the same time, he said those with large tracts of land are getting attractive offers from solar companies to either buy or lease the land.

 

“The dollars they are offering some people are tremendous,” Smith said.

 

The consideration of a moratorium will not stop the construction of a 20-acre array on Perth Road in Galway, which has already been approved. TJA-NY will build the $7 million 3.5 megawatt solar array, which President Michael Frateschi said will pay landowners an estimated $1,200 per acre per year for solar arrays. For a 20-acre site, the landowner would receive about $24,000 a year. Frateschi said that helps farmers who may be land rich but financially strained.

 

“The next generation doesn’t want to farm,” Frateschi said. “But they want to keep the land in their family. This is a good supplemental income. I’ve had projects that we took 25 acres out of a 125-acre farm. It worked out well for them, make money off the solar and continue to farm.”

 

Frateschi argues it’s a good deal for the town too as it will not burden the local infrastructure and enhances the electrical grid.

 

“It provides stability and resiliency to the electrical grid,” Frateschi said. “It doesn’t tie into sewer, water or gas. There is very little traffic to maintain it, there is no noise, no light pollution.”

 

Regarding residents' concerns over views, he said the site is “fully wooded” and that the array would be shielded by trees. 

 

“It’s hidden,” Frateschi said.

 

Still, the concerns over solar panel arrays are many. The town of Wilton is discussing a $10,000 per acre fee on solar arrays that can be used toward land preservation as two planned arrays there will take down forests. In Fort Edward, the Grassland Bird Trust is seeking to limit the loss of habitat and hunting grounds for raptors, likely casualties of a proposed network of 750 acres of solar panels. In Schoharie County, towns are suing the state over how the arrays can be assessed, arguing rules will shortchange them out of millions.

 

The concerns aren't limited to just where the solar panels go and how much money they would generate for a town. There are also worries that damaged panels could leach heavy metals into the soil and about how the panels will be disposed of after they are decommissioned. A 2020 article from the American Experiment, a nonprofit think tank in Minnesota, noted that “that solar panels contain toxic heavy metals that can pose a risk to the environment should they leak out” and that an article in Grist, a nonprofit media group focused on climate solutions, cited International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that by 2050, the world will generate six million metric tons of solar panel waste annually.

 

Frateschi argues that metals would only leach out of solar panels if they were damaged by a severe tornado and that when the life of the panel has expired, the materials will be recycled. He also said his company’s Galway project, which has undergone the state environmental quality review, does not endanger any wildlife.

 

“It’s a sensitive topic and transparency goes a long way,” he said.

 

Smith wants his community to have an opportunity to raise questions and have residents' concerns addressed.

 

“There is significant opposition to them for various reasons,” Smith said. “There is the question of what to do with them after they outlived their life? There is a lot of bad stuff in them. If a tree falls on one of the panels, does something leak out? Who knows. Solar panels are not a perfect scenario by any means.”