Solar Panels anger neighbors.

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BucksCoBernie

BucksCoBernie

Feeling the Heat
Hearth Supporter
Oct 8, 2008
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(broken link removed to http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times/courier_times_news_details/article/28/2010/january/05/man-saves-energy-angers-neighbors.html)

Sounds like sour grapes to me. The guy lives on over an acre of property. I'm glad my neighbors arent petty and snobby.
 
I can understand the neighbors position. We live on an acre and a half and didn't want to look at them in our own backyard. But, we had the luxury of designing our solar south roof to the ideal angle for overall annual production as part of the house rebuild.
 
Sure, the neighbors have a right not to like it, but we all have neighbors who do things we don't like, and even ones who break the law and the city won't enforce it.
I know I do.
But these people who put up the solar panels seem to have followed the law as it was when they installed them.
It's just part of life when living with neighbors nearby.
They need to find a way to live with it, or move to the country with enough acreage that they don't need to worry about neighbors doing things they don't like.
 
Heads up neighbors - tough luck. Some things you just have to deal with.
 
Many states have solar rights laws which specifically allow the installation of solar panels and also limits future development from shading the panels. California has had some interesting cases where neighbors were forced to trim their trees.

Overall its hard to make an argument against nothing, which is what the neighbors saw before the solar panels.
 
In the UK, and here I believe also, there is no "right to a view".
 
before you know it the government will be taxing the square ft of solar panels daily. It will be a SUN tax. We will all have to camoflage our panels somehow to avoid the tax man once again.
 
16' tall panels on the property line seems like a real FU to the neighbors if you ask me. Why can't he distribute the same square footage of PV on shorter panels in a couple rows on his property?
 
I think the guy should be able to erect whatever he wants on his property, but the last paragraph says it all. He's concerned about being "green" yet he has a 4000 square foot house. 16' solar panels are the new "green" status symbol.
 
peakbagger said:
Many states have solar rights laws which specifically allow the installation of solar panels and also limits future development from shading the panels. California has had some interesting cases where neighbors were forced to trim their trees.

Overall its hard to make an argument against nothing, which is what the neighbors saw before the solar panels.
Click to expand...

Georgia has the same law protecting the solar panel owner from neighbors shading them. Just wait until the guy puts up about 3 windmills! Part of the Crap and Trade has to be protection for those who must put up alternate sources to survive.
 
I think that smoke stacks, high voltage lines, and telephone poles are ugly too. But they're all part of out energy/communication infrastructure and I wouldn't want to do without them. Sooner than later, solar panels and windmills are going to be a larger part of our energy landscape, both figuratively and literally.
 
I think its funny that the neighbor sites that the panels are in view from their swingset. Most of those things are eyesores (swingsets) especially if they are uncared for and have that tree fort like appendage. I bet one of the neighbors also has a '51 Buick with no wheels sinking into the ground that somehow isn't an eyesore. Americans get more foolish every day (present company excluded of course). Somehow we've turned into the Land of the Home and Free of the Brave.I don't remember any law that says you can complain until you get your way, but I bet we're close to getting one.
 
I say he should appease the neighbors, take down the panels, and start generating his own electricity with a coal fired power plant in his basement where the neighbors can't see it. No panels, but maybe some smoke or soot. :cheese:
 
Or maybe a few old 'hit and miss' gas engines out back turning generators. No mufflers, of course.
 
The neighbor is a total whiner.....if it were me, I would put 20 ft panels on my side of the property and say "Nyaa Nyaa, mine's bigger!"

I'd be interested to see how much work was done on the 4000 sq ft house to conserve energy. Did they put spray foam insulation in the attic? are all exterior penetrations (dryer vents, pipes, air intakes etc) sealed? do they use setback thermostats? Did they put a radiant barrier in the attic, and insulate any attic ductwork?

Yes, solar panels are a wonderful idea and help conserve/generate energy. You can get a lot more bang for the buck, and quickly, by stopping energy loss in your house. A hoome energy audit by a qualified contractor is a good place to start.
 
I agree with Flatbed, except that I think the guy should not use coal either since the stack might impede view. How about some nice steaming manure bio-pile?
 
This was the reson i moved from the chitty and now live on 63 acres of prime NYS country. I built my own home, i have spring water, solar and heat with pellets , walk around nude, it is simply a better way to live for me, and i am 1/2 mile off the road where i can,say,pee what ever i want.......
 
Low rent district.
 
That was probably the most interesting article I read today. Sometimes I am embarrassed by my fellow Americans. While we try to do everything we can think of to conserve fossil energy, some guy down the road has over 30 exterior lights on every night. (He has more light on his porch than we keep on inside our entire house!) I hate to say it, but I've come around to thinking that we need a big friggin carbon tax.
 
Did I just advocate for higher taxes? Yikes.
 
woodsman23 said:
This was the reson i moved from the chitty and now live on 63 acres of prime NYS country. I built my own home, i have spring water, solar and heat with pellets , walk around nude, it is simply a better way to live for me, and i am 1/2 mile off the road where i can,say,pee what ever i want.......
Click to expand...

you are my hero
 
It is sour grapes. Neighbors complaining because they want everything to be like their stuff, where everyone is the same, and nobody stands out. I could understand if he had parked junk cars, etc on his property line but solar panels? They look very neat. Now, if they fall apart in a few years because he is not maintaining them, etc, just as if he let the house & yard get run-down, that would be something else. NIMBY...those neighbors should just be quiet.

And, the CA solar rights issue where the trees were forced to be cut down? That was ridiculous because 1) the trees had been there for years; 2) the folks put their panels on the ground under the existing trees; 3) they could have put the panels on the roof. Yes, solar rights do exist but common senses needs to come into play.
 
Solar panels anger Arabs!

I thought that we were working toward energy independence?
 
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