New York State solar farm corruption

[Duds13]

And then this. Yeah, lets cut down 150 acres of mature forest to save the planet....

The claim about clearing 150 acres of trees refers to the Oxbow Hill Solar Project, a 140-megawatt solar array being developed in the Town of Fenner, Madison County, New York by Cypress Creek Renewables. [1, 2, 3]
The removal of this mature timber has been a highly contentious point. Here are the key details surrounding the project:

• The Tree Removal: The project spans nearly 1,000 acres, predominantly agricultural farmland. Among the environmental and land-use impacts, the site plan requires cutting down over 150 acres of mature trees. [1, 2]
• Regulatory Status: The New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) granted a final siting permit to move the project forward, overriding concerns voiced by local municipalities and the Madison County Board of Supervisors. [1, 2]
• Local Backlash: Local officials, including the Fenner Town Supervisor, have heavily criticized the project, citing concerns about losing productive agricultural land, destroying the rural character of the town, and clear-cutting a significant amount of timber for green energy initiatives. [1, 2]

 

[kborndale]

Cutting down trees to put in solar fields is just plain stupid. Most solar fields I've seen (mostly in VT, and on Long Island) are on old unused farmland and I see no issues with putting them there.

 

[woodgeek]

Color me skeptical of water fowl diving into solar panels to their death. Last time I checked, they don't dive blind headfirst into water... osprey are looking for FISH in the water and targeting them.

This is a retread of 'windmills kill birds'... when cats and windows kill far more. I think many of us have had birds slam into our windows and die... and yet we still have windows.

 

[gthomas785]

And then this. Yeah, lets cut down 150 acres of mature forest to save the planet....

The claim about clearing 150 acres of trees refers to the Oxbow Hill Solar Project, a 140-megawatt solar array being developed in the Town of Fenner, Madison County, New York by Cypress Creek Renewables. [1, 2, 3]
The removal of this mature timber has been a highly contentious point. Here are the key details surrounding the project:

• The Tree Removal: The project spans nearly 1,000 acres, predominantly agricultural farmland. Among the environmental and land-use impacts, the site plan requires cutting down over 150 acres of mature trees. [1, 2]
• Regulatory Status: The New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) granted a final siting permit to move the project forward, overriding concerns voiced by local municipalities and the Madison County Board of Supervisors. [1, 2]
• Local Backlash: Local officials, including the Fenner Town Supervisor, have heavily criticized the project, citing concerns about losing productive agricultural land, destroying the rural character of the town, and clear-cutting a significant amount of timber for green energy initiatives. [1, 2]

I don't think you'll find a single environmentalist in support of cutting virgin forest to plant solar panels. Sadly, that trend is yet another one driven by profitability as developers can buy the land cheaply, sell the timber, then sell the electricity.
From an environmental perspective the best place for solar panels is on rooftops, parking lots, and other already developed areas. But that's more expensive than cutting down trees to sell so it's hard to find people willing to do it. We already have ratepayers complaining about the cost of these panels going on farmland when really in 2026 it's the cheapest way to generate electricity.

 

[Eman85]

"From 2012 to 2022, Madison County lost 16,966 acres of farmland, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census."
This is from one of the links posted. What did those 17,000 acres of land become? I'm betting it wasn't solar farms.
Bottom line, money wins. Gov't throwing money at anything usually comes with a price and unforseen consequences. The farmer in the article is upset because he was outbid for land he rented, money won. The gov't threw money at milk processing plants, didn't seem to help the dairy farmer if he can't control his land and provide the milk.

 

[stoveliker]

Color me skeptical of water fowl diving into solar panels to their death. Last time I checked, they don't dive blind headfirst into water... osprey are looking for FISH in the water and targeting them.

This is a retread of 'windmills kill birds'... when cats and windows kill far more. I think many of us have had birds slam into our windows and die... and yet we still have windows.

Exactly. Ospreys are visual hunters.
No fish, no dive.
Might they check out a field of solar panels, yes, as the polarized light reflecting off of the panels looks like reflection off of water.
Same reason why insects often hover over parked cars. No polarized sunglasses for them.
But after looking at the panels a few times and not seeing fish, they'll go elsewhere. They're not stupid enough to keep hunting where no prey is available.

 

[begreen]

Any intervention in nature by humans is disruptive. There can be good and bad effects to the disruption. We eliminate wolves and forests disappear due to an an excess of elk munching on the scenery. The farm in this case, is already a disruption that has a wide-reaching effect on the area's flora, fauna, and culture. A solar farm on the property will also have effects, some good and some, potentially, may not be so good. We should work toward the best outcomes. There are studies showing that a properly designed solar farm can boost the ecology beneath it, and if planted well between the rows, it can create a thriving habitat. Agrivoltaics is proving that farming and power generation can positively co-exist.

I get that people don't like change. Upstate NY has some stunning farmland vistas that will look different in some specific areas if solar is located there. Still, mid-state is a big area. A lot of the farms are idle or being sold because they are either unproductive, or too expensive to run, or the next generation doesn't want to be farmers. Progress will continue to happen. The Iroquois Confederacy wasn't too happy about Europeans moving in and clear cutting their homeland, but we did anyway. The best hope is to move forward in a meaningful way that incorporates natural and human priorities, and not just for-profit ventures.

 

[EbS-P]

Madison County

If we’re still talking about NY that 16k acres is 0.1% of the counties total land area. On the state wide scale it practically nothing.

 

[Duds13]

 

[stoveliker]

If more people would put them on their own roofs of their home and barns etc. maybe this would not be necessary.
🤷‍♂️

 

[begreen]

Floating solar farms are typically placed on reservoirs and water treatment ponds, not often on public recreation sites. There is nothing in the bill promoting this happening on Otsego Lake or other recreational site.

Floating solar can be a good fit in some cases because it reduces evaporation and keeps the panels cooler, while generating utility power for pumping stations. NY Senate bill S4571 covers education, research, technical and environmental oversight for this type of project. The only granting authority in the bill is for artificial water bodies, aka man-made. Note that this bill has not passed yet.

 

[begreen]

I learned something else that these solar farms on resevoirs do - they help keep the water much cleaner. This is a posting from Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Japan is covering its inland reservoirs with solar panels — and the shade is actually making the water cleaner.
Ciel & Terre Japan has deployed over 180 floating solar installations across agricultural reservoirs, irrigation ponds, and water supply reservoirs throughout the Hyogo, Chiba, and Aichi prefectures — making Japan the country with the highest density of inland floating solar installations per square kilometre of freshwater surface in the world, with a combined capacity exceeding 450 megawatts.
The water quality benefit is as significant as the energy benefit. Algal blooms — caused by excess sunlight triggering explosive growth of cyanobacteria in nutrient-rich agricultural reservoir water — contaminate drinking water, kill aquatic life, and cost water authorities billions of yen annually in treatment chemicals. Floating solar panels shade 60-70% of the water surface, reducing the light available for algal growth by an amount sufficient to suppress bloom formation entirely in reservoirs where panels cover more than 40% of the surface area.
In controlled studies across 12 Hyogo prefecture reservoirs, floating solar coverage reduced algal bloom incidents by 78%, chlorophyll-a concentrations by 64%, and water treatment chemical costs by 41% compared to uncovered control reservoirs — delivering clean water as a co-benefit of clean energy generation from the same infrastructure.
Japan has 230,000 agricultural reservoirs covering 120,000 hectares of water surface. Floating solar on 10% of that area generates 18 gigawatts of clean electricity while simultaneously improving water quality for 8 million rural households.
Japan found a way to clean its water and power its grid from the same surface.
Ciel & Terre Japan and Ministry of Agriculture Report (2024)

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The algae is there due to extra nutrients in the water. The algae is cleaning the water. If you cover it with panels, there isn’t algae due to the lack of light, but what the algae is growing on isn’t removed from the water.

 

[stoveliker]

Yeah, so put them on farmland so less nitrogen is spread there that ends up in the water feeding algae.

So, both on farm land and on water reservoirs...

 

[begreen]

That made me think of all the bird and duck poop they keep out of the water.

 

[semipro]

This seems relevant:

China's Largest Solar Farm Is Doing A Lot More Than Generating Energy - SlashGear

Solar farms are already proving to be an effective addition to traditional power, but now it looks like they may have additional environmental benefits.

www.slashgear.com

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, though that was a desert, so quite a different starting point.

 

[begreen]

These residents appear contented.

 

[bigealta]

These residents appear contented.

View attachment 347868

I just drove by a huge field close to the Salt Lake City airport where this would be perfect. Flat land and cows already in place and basically in a large city. I'm pretty sure it's not buildable land so even better.

 

[stoveliker]

I just drove by a huge field close to the Salt Lake City airport where this would be perfect. Flat land and cows and already in place and basically in a large city. I'm pretty sure it's not buildable land so even better.

Except that near Amsterdam airport they may be taking some off of a field because pilots say the reflection (direct sun) hinders them.
I'm puzzled by that given the direct sunlight they often face straight on, but "it's a thing" near airports.
🤷‍♂️

 

[bigealta]

Except that near Amsterdam airport they may be taking some off of a field because pilots say the reflection (direct sun) hinders them.
I'm puzzled by that given the direct sunlight they often face straight on, but "it's a thing" near airports.
🤷‍♂️

Hmmm, it's about 6 -10 miles away. Wonder if that's far enough away from the runways?

 

[stoveliker]

Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the path, i.e. how high they are at that location (IF they even fly in routes affected by sun reflections from that location...)

 

[EatenByLimestone]

May be time and season dependent too. The sun moves all over the sky!

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, I read there was a 230,000 panel solar "farm", of which 78,000 were ordered (by a judge) to be removed for flight safety.
They were an issue in March (and I presume possibly October?).

Another nearby PV field was predicted to be an issue from the end of August (to I don't know when).

 

[EbS-P]

It seems a durable anti reflective coating would improve efficiency and and reduce aircraft issues. I do find this interesting that it hasn’t been addressed.