Neighbor looking at Solar Farm

[Dusty Britches]

Background - Our house sits on top of a hill and has some really nice views. We built the house with these in mind because my husband is disabled and during the very hot and very cold times of the year he cannot leave the house. The views make it seem less like a prison and we can see long distances. My neighbor's fence is 300 yards from our house. He has a 150 acre hay pasture. We found out last night that the company that has been out there taking core samples is running tests to determine the feasibility of putting in a solar farm.


I'm concerned about my property losing value but I'm also concerned about the heat that will radiate from this project. I do not honestly think I could dissuade him from this because for the time being this is a lucrative land use. Is there anything that I could hope for that would stop this project? I thought these companies were looking for 300+ acre sites.

If the project moves forward to construction, how tall will these be? Perhaps I could plant a hedge or something to somewhat hide the field.

 

[Rafter S]

I don't claim to be an authority on the subject, but I don't believe radiant heat will be a problem. The whole purpose of solar panels is to capture energy, not reflect it.

I think planting a hedge will be your best option if the solar farm becomes a reality and you feel it spoils your view.

 

[bird dog]

The companies usually surround the sites with tall chain link fence. It would be nice if you could get them to put slats on that to hide the view. Maybe ask the neighbor to include them in his contract.

 

[b.duke]

i don't have any advice. I'm just glad I own both sides of the road.

 

[CowboyRam]

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[Dave]

I don't claim to be an authority on the subject, but I don't believe radiant heat will be a problem. The whole purpose of solar panels is to capture energy, not reflect it.

I don't know if they reflect heat but they darn sure reflect light. They put one in just west of Pendleton Oregon right along I-84. There is a sign now on the freeway warning about the glare. Come down and around that corner at the wrong time of the day and the reflection is blinding.

 

[WFfarm]

Plant some larger fast growing trees along the property line, especially ones that will cast a long shadow onto the neighbor's field.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Buy the neighbors land?

 

[DNelson]

good AG land sacrificed for solar panels, SMH.

 

[tex452]

I was contacted about putting solar panels on my place in Leon county.
I have lots of questions.
Will I lose my ag exemption on the 50 acres they want to lease?
What will it do to the value of my and my neighbors property?
How much money will be left after paying taxes?
What happens to them if they go bankrupt?
Just how ugly are they?
I told them im not interested in leasing my land.
The lady I talked to said the people that want to lease my property aren't very nice!
Why would she tell me that?

 

[gman4691]

Buy the neighbors land?

That sounds like the best idea, if at all possible. But it's hard to bid against big corporations and/or government subsidies.

 

[greybeard]

The lady I talked to said the people that want to lease my property aren't very nice!
Why would she tell me that?

because she's the much sought but rarely encountered (see Diogenes) 'honest person'?

 

[RDFF]

1. Solar panels DO radiate heat back out into the atmosphere... they do NOT reduce the amount of heat in the area they are installed in.
2. IMO, solar panels covering a whole field are NOT aesthetically pleasing. I think they're "ugly"... but that's a matter of personal preference. As to the "view" that you appreciate across your neighbor's properties......... you didn't purchase THAT, when you purchased your property. You don't "own" the right to dictate what that view should be, anymore than your neighbor owns the right to dictate to YOU what YOUR property has to look like. Don't go playing the victim on that one... this is all about personal property rights.
3. Might what your neighbor does on his property potentially impact the value of your property? Absolutely... always has, always will. That doesn't, and SHOULDN'T infringe on HIS personal property rights, to do what he wants, on his property. If he's not "changing a watercourse" for example, thereby depriving you of water that you naturally had running directly across your property... or some other similar direct impact... you really don't have a legal basis for a right to complain...

When they began installing windmills, individuals both close to them and from many miles away would raise this "view" argument... complaining about the lights on top at night, etc. I won't try to tell you that this isn't an intrusion into the night skyscape... it is. I have them all around me here, and I can see those lights across the horizon on turbines that are 20 miles away. But I can also see the yard lights of all of my neighbors.......... and of the cities off in the distance. I see the lights of airplanes overhead, heading to the airport 6 miles away. And complaining that the mills themself would interfere with their "view" across the landscape during the day... a previously "unobstructed view" that they appreciated... and these windmills would just completely destroy that for them.

Now that they've been there for a while, people have gotten used to them... and they still see and appreciate the sunrises and sunsets much as they did before they were installed. People worried about their "property values" being negatively affected by them.............. but that was mostly only because they were worried about RESIDENTIAL property values going down... Now, 10-20 years later, people looking for a piece of land out in the country don't ever even consider that there might be a windmill somewhere nearby. I suspect that will also be the case for land in the country nearby to a solar field. I personally feel that the solar field will be a much bigger deterrent than will a windmill, honestly.

That being said, I don't care for either... but it just might be the reality. And if these things will help to deter the subdividing of farmland for residential development, then I'm generally "supportive". I believe that the creeping overtaking of agricultural districts by residential properties is a bigger threat to agriculture and an agrarian rural way of life than are windmills and solar panels.

 

[farmerjan]

I was contacted about putting solar panels on my place in Leon county.
I have lots of questions.
Will I lose my ag exemption on the 50 acres they want to lease?
What will it do to the value of my and my neighbors property?
How much money will be left after paying taxes?
What happens to them if they go bankrupt?
Just how ugly are they?
I told them im not interested in leasing my land.
The lady I talked to said the people that want to lease my property aren't very nice!
Why would she tell me that?

Maybe because they might try some sort of strong arm tactics if you refuse???? There is a former dairy here, that is going to have some put on the land... it is less than 50 acres... and right along the interstate... wondering how that is going to work out with the glare issue...
To me, they are ugly if set out in the middle of a formerly nice green productive piece of agriculture land... Set on top of a building I find them much less offensive.... semantics I know...
County has been conservative about approving them and another piece nearby had their application considered and then turned down by the county.

 

[Brute 23]

I'm not a fan but I don't want people telling me what I can do on my mand so I try not to tell them what they can do on theirs.

 

[greybeard]

the slow w-h-o-o-s-h, w-h-o-o-s-h, w-h-o-o-s-h of the turbines is more bothersome to me than their physical appearance.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

If someone put wind mill bird choppers or a solar farm near me I would sell the place and move. Seems like the OP should go ahead and plant those fast growing tall trees > Lombardy poplars or Leyland cedars.

 

[cowgirl8]

One, they will be the quietest neighbors you'll ever have. Two, dont expect things to stay the same if you dont own the land. Three, you might could sell to the solar farm, they pay good prices.. Or heck, lease your land to them, and buy somewhere else. The worst mistake people make when this happens to their area is to refuse to work with them. Its going to happen no matter what you do. And you dont want to be that one person who did not lease or sell. Its just how it is. Do you know the company?

 

[GoWyo]

All your questions should be taken care of in your lease if you lease it. The lady who told you the solar lease people aren't nice is likely an independent landman similar to what oil and gas companies use to interface with landowners. She is maybe watching out for her own reputation.

 

[cowgirl8]

Many people around us refused to even talk with the solar people. I found the solar people very nice. I understand that if you have a house and just a few acres, the solar people may not be interested in your place. But a lot of people around us got left behind and the farm was still built. Their houses and land got surrounded. But again, the grounds will be kept and it will be quiet. Just 5 miles from here someone sold 40 acres cut up into 5 acre tracts and its a mess. Every person has junk piled up all over, they have roaming dogs, trash, junk cars.... I'd take solar farm any day over that. They will end up surrounded by solar farm. There is one spot that overlooked some bottom land that is now filled with solar panels. From a distance it looks like water. So theres that, maybe it will look like water. lol