To the editor:
When it comes to building a solar farm, why would you — and please forgive me — “stick it where the sun don’t shine”? Winter solstice is a mere 8 hours a day, and it’s a meager light, traveling low across the horizon.
Power generated by this project is so expensive that consumers must be given credits to use it; i.e., tax breaks or payments from government money. Great for the few who sign up early, but what happens when the subsidies stop?
Gov. Mills isn’t just interested in 80 percent renewable power generation, but has sights against home heating fuel and gas-powered cars.
There’s a reason we use coal, oil, gas to generate electricity. It’s reliable and inexpensive, doesn’t care if it’s day or night, cloudy or bright If you [think brushing] the snow or chipping the ice or writing your name in a layer of pollen on a car is a pain, imagine 15,586 solar panels to keep clear. Any occlusion lessens the ability of that panel to produce electricity.
Just to add one more straw to the camel’s back, what happens when vandals steal every inch of copper wire they can carry?
You may believe that solar is the wave of the future and we need to reduce [our] carbon footprint. Fair point. It’s minus 25 this morning. Will a battery car even work? How many Mainers will install wood burning units — smoky, dirty — just to stay warm? How large will the carbon footprint be?
“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”
Sid Duncan
Presque Isle
