Nothing new under the sun

Council rebuffed in attempt to regulate construction and placement of solar panels in the County

The view from Swamp College Road.

Bob Hunter is used to having his business and his property scrutined closely. He says he is just a simple farmer trying to make a go of it in a tough industry, where nature determines if this year will be a profitable one, or whether all the season’s effort and money were for nought.

Hunter owns about 3,500 acres stretching in a wide swath from near Bloomfield to Pleasant Bay and Lake Ontario, mostly south of County Rd 1 (Scoharie Road). Hunter first came to public notice when he began dumping hundreds of truckloads of sludge from a recycling plant in Whitby onto his fields. The sludge gave the land surrounding Wellington and Hillier an unearthly bluegray hue.

He said he received no compensation for this material, mixed with mushroom mulch; that he was merely adding to the thin Hillier area soils.

The Ministry of Environment declared the practice safe but these assurances didn’t satisfy neighbours, who are now much more vigilant about testing their well water.

Now Hunter’s neighours are complaining anew. In recent months, Hunter has erected ten solar energy arrays on his properties along Gilead Road and Swamp College Road. Each installation consist of two arrays totalling about 10 MW of production output—which makes him eligible for rich provincial energy payments of $0.59 per kWh. Under terms of the MicroFIT agreement the Ontario government agrees to buy all the electricity he produces, whether we need it or not.

Currently only three arrays are producing electricity. The others remain in development according to Hunter. His neighbours complain that the solar panels are too close to the road, that they obstruct their rural views and that debris from the panels is being scattered on their property.

County council has become involved in recent weeks, openly concerned about the apparently haphazard cluster of steel and glass arrays lining the sideroads north of Wellington.

Council asked the County’s building department to determine if the municipality had any powers to regulate these structures in any way—either where they are located or how they are built.

The answer was an emphatic ‘no’. The Green Energy Act blocks council interference—removing local input on issues of location, placement and manner of construction according to Andy Harrison, chief building official.

Council is reacting to a growing chorus of complaints from Hunter’s neighbours who worry that soon every County road could be littered with solar panels lining the roadway. Already the eastern section of Swamp College has been transformed. From rural countryside, the area’s dominant features are now tubular steel skeletons covered in reflective panels—often impairing the vision of drivers along the roadway.

Hunter says his panels are located close to the roadway because Hydro One will only run a line 100 metres from the nearest transformer—typically located on the roadside. If the landowner wishes to locate the solar panel array any farther away from the transformer they must incur the cost of the additional line and its installation as well as tolerate lower productivity from the array due to energy loss in the lines. Hunter is unwilling to bear these additional costs. Besides, placing the arrays close to the edge of the field makes it easier to till around them with large equipment and implements.

Hunter says he has tried to work with neighbours to ease their concerns about the structures. He has moved at least two arrays in an attempt to appease concerns—spending an estimated $6,000 to move one installation after a complaint from a neighbour. He says he now realizes there are some who will never be happy.

“I saw the neighbour coming across the road waving his arms,” recalls Hunter. “I thought ‘uh oh this doesn’t look good’. He said ‘I know you aren’t doing anything illegal but I don’t like it’. Well what are you supposed to do with that? I’ve learned you cannot please everybody.”

Hunter’s biggest headache with solar arrays, however, has been in developing reflectors to improve the efficiency of the panel. Shaped like upside down Vs between vertical rows of panels, the first reflectors were made of glass but proved to be too heavy and vulnerable to breakage

Then he tried plastic acrylic panel material. But these proved too flimsy and brittle. A couple of wind storms last fall sent pieces of acrylic all over the countryside. He then tried stainless steel—but the cost proved too great and the efficiency of reflection too little.

He has now abandoned the reflector design altogether. Now he spends much of his time and effort developing arrays that track the sun during the day. It is proving to be a tough slog.

“We’ve changed the shaft two or three times, gear boxes had to be changed,” said Hunter. “We went hydraulic at first then we went to chain drive. There has been a ton of R&D. We’re still working on them. They are not easy.”

But why not buy the solar arrays from a proven manufacturer?

“All my life we’ve built the things we needed when they didn’t exist to suit our needs,” said Hunter. “That’s how we have the largest tractor ever built in Canada.”

While most on council are working to lobby the provincial government for the tools to determine where and how these structures are constructed in the County, some on council argue that the municipality should stay out of the way.

“Prince Edward County is getting a reputation for being anti-green, and anti-Green Energy Act,” said Brian Marisett, a councillor in Picton. “If we insist on site plans these projects won’t be economical.”

But other other councillors are worried more about injury to citizens, liability to the municipality and impact on neighbours’ property values.

Harrison, however, had little to offer those seeking to protect County interests from these developers.

“Nothing in the regulations of the Green Energy Act requires the developer, landowner or province to consult with the municipality,” said Harrison.

For most on council it amounts an unreasonable confiscation of the County’s powers to protect its citizens.