Hearing held on solar facility
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on January 20, 2016 1:46 PM
Multiple people attended the Goldsboro City Council meeting Tuesday night to speak in support of a rezoning measure that would allow for the construction of a solar farm on the west side of Thoroughfare Road between Central Heights Road and the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
They were there to address concerns raised at the prior public hearing on the matter, which was held at the end of December and was continued until Tuesday night's meeting at the behest of the applicant.
Among the concerns raised by the community were what effects it would have on property values in the area, how it would impact future agricultural projects in the area and whether or not the farm produced enough of an electromagnetic field to adversely affect any resident with a pacemaker.
The applicant, Heights Solar Farm, LLC, held a community meeting on the matter to address any concerns, but out of 35 residents who were invited only two showed up to the meeting.
One of those who attended was Peter Stewart, who spoke at the first public hearing about the solar farm in opposition to the measure.
Lindsay Herold, chief operating officer at ESA Renewables, which is the co-developer on the solar farm project, said Stewart did not voice his concerns to the developers at the community meeting that was held.
Ms. Herold said the area the solar farm would be constructed in is designated as an area of low suitability for development.
"The site has multiple limitations for development," Ms. Herold said. "It has a transmission line that sort of bisects the property, it's also next to a railroad line, there are multiple industrial properties close by, it has limited road frontage and it is adjacent to a substation."
Ms. Herold said solar farms are purposely located close to substations, as substations are power connection points for the projects.
There is also a substantial amount of vegetation surrounding the proposed site for the solar farm, which would shield it from the public view, she said.
Construction of the solar farm would take four to six months, Ms. Herold said, and it would be a low traffic area once it is completed, as nobody would be on-site full time and preventive maintenance would be conducted bi-annually.
"It doesn't require water or sewer, and if we have a dry season here without much rain, we will maybe wash the panels and bring a truck on site for that," Ms. Herold said.
Construction of the solar farm would not adversely affect the permeability of the land, she said, and there would be no impact on the quality of groundwater in the area.
"Normally the posts (for the panels) are driven piles, so there's no concrete on the site, there's no gravel, and we leave it in its natural vegetative state," Ms. Herold said.
Another concern was raised by Seymour Johnson Air Force Base related to the glare the solar farm would produce, as the solar farm would be directly in two flight paths that travel to and from the base.
SJAFB requested a solar glare study be conducted by the applicant, in response to which the applicant conducted glare tests for 22 different cases and the analysis conducted by the applicant indicated there would be no glare interference caused by the solar farm.
But, SJAFB has not yet replied to the applicant even though the results of the test have been sent to officials on base.
Electromagnetic fields would also not be a concern, said Javier Latre, chief technical officer at ESA Renewables.
"Studies by the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Health show that there is no association between electromagnetic fields from power line configurations and any form of cancer," Latre said. "Similar questions that we have had is if pacemakers or defibrillators would have any impact from electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic field limits for pacemakers are 10 or 100 times higher than what is caused by exposure directly to any distribution lines on a solar farm, so there is no problem with that."
Solar facilities also do not change the existing electromagnetic field exposure levels people would already be experiencing in that area.
Solar farms are low voltage, and wiring and electrical equipment on the site is covered and sealed. Therefore, rain would not adversely affect the site and no contamination would happen as a result of climactic events.
"At the end of the day, the solar panels are made with sand from the beach," Latre said. "That sand is treated, and heated, and that's how you achieve the solar panel's electrical connectivity."
Latre said the expected life of a solar panel is 40 years, and at the end of a panel's lifespan, it is properly disposed of in a way that does not adversely affect the environment.
The contract Heights Solar Farm would be under is a 50-year contract, with an option to renew the contract in five year increments.
"Within six months of the end of the lease, all components of the solar facility will be removed, the site will be fertilized and reseeded with grass," Latre said.
Rich Kirkland, a licensed real estate appraiser in North Carolina who has done more than 30 studies on solar farms and their effect on property values, told the council that there would be no property value depreciation to surrounding properties caused by the solar farm if it were to be constructed.
No action was taken on the matter by the council immediately following the public hearing. The city's planning commission will return a recommendation to the council at its meeting Feb. 1.