A Charged Challenge
Industrial batteries became dangerous, and solar arrays are ugly, but moratoriums and wildflowers may mitigate.
The road to New York State renewable energy goals is riddled with potholes, as Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton has observed over the past few weeks. While weather attributed to climate change has led to floods, fires and heat waves resulting in destruction and deaths, efforts to provide renewable energy led to fires from battery backups in the Town and Village of Warwick.
Consequently, the Town put a six month moratorium on proposals for industrial and commercial batteries, which can be extended for six months at a time, while investigators determine what happened, what safeguards are needed and where batteries can be put safely, Sweeton said.
“We won’t turn on the current until we resolve those issues, but those are approved projects. Once safety is addressed to the satisfaction of the school, the batteries can be energized,” said Sweeton. “There’s an investigation, no moratorium.”
In the Village, Mayor Michael Newhard said, “We’re reviewing moratoriums on batteries—industrial, commercial and residential.”
As with the Town, the batteries in place have been “vetted and approved,” he said. “We hope the investigation will determine what’s needed.”
Meanwhile, proposed solar arrays raise neighbors’ concerns.
“It’s a conundrum. People want sustainable energy. But in reality, where they live, they don’t want it,” said Sweeton. “Solar arrays are ugly.”
A proposed solar array near Ridge Rd. is currently before the planning board, and a two megawatt array that would occupy 10 to 14 acres, near Lake Station Rd., is in the application stage. It hasn’t reached the planning board, but neighbors expressed concern about being notified.
The parameters for each solar array depend on the zoning and characteristics of the property, Sweeton said. Only a certain percentage of hardwood trees can be cleared, although clearing scrub is allowed. The Lake Station Rd. property is mostly scrub, he noted. A required distance from the property line is set, and a visual analysis is done to determine the amount of visual buffer needed.
"The planning board wants to reduce the visual impact,” said Sweeton.
Asked about future prospects for solar array aesthetic improvements, Emily Cote at New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) pointed out the possibility of pollinator wildflowers around solar arrays.
“Mitigation measures may include the installation of trees or other vegetation to obscure the arrays from view and/or the integration of solar panels with common crops or wildflowers to support agriculture and native pollinator populations,” Cote said. “While some pre-existing wildflowers may be retained within the site boundaries during the solar array construction process, there is a ‘dual-use’ practice within the solar industry to intentionally integrate pollinator-friendly plants in the project’s vegetation management plan to serve as a habitat and food for birds, bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. A pollinator seed mix is broadcast in designated pollinator habitat areas shortly after the solar project has been constructed to establish a perennial mix of wildflowers that can safely grow among the solar panels with minimal upkeep.”
The native plants are chosen so that their maximum height does not interfere with the sun reaching the solar panels, Cote said.
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