Objectives and Mission:
- to cultivate the ability of local residents and landowners in Leesburg, Claiborne and Taylor townships to exercise their right to have their voices heard.
- to educate the community on the impact of utility-scale solar projects on the environment, the local economy and other associated risks.
- to advocate for responsible stewardship of our local resources for generations to come.
- to urge local elected officials to stand by their promises and listen to the voices of their constituents.
- to insist that the other parties involved in Richwood Solar operate with honesty, openness and clarity.
- to exemplify what it looks like to engage in conversation with each other as a community with integrity.
Concerns about utility scale solar
- Utility scale solar is relatively inefficient in terms of size vs output. This proposed facility is suggesting the use of a Trinasolar panels which have a maximum efficiency of roughly 20%. Studies have shown that solar and wind can consume as much as 10x the amount of land needed for coal, gas or nuclear powered plants. Real estate is a non-renewable resource and with the loss of available farm ground yearly due to urban sprawl, housing developments, and new industries; taking large amounts of additional ground for energy production is irresponsible when there are technologies that consume far less space.
- The production of energy by these facilities does not necessarily benefit the local communities they are located in. The credits for these facilities are sold to large companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook while the local communities are left paying for higher generation costs for energy that they do not use. Furthermore, electric companies participate in load shedding where they can determine what circuits receive the energy first from a particular substation.
- Concerns have been raised about the environmental impacts of the components used in these facilities including the PV modules, inverters, battery storage systems. Many of these components contain heavy metals that have the possibility of contaminating the local water supply and any water supplies downstream of the area.
- The construction of these large projects requires the use of steel pilings to be driven into the ground. This process does not know what the piling is being driven into or through. Damage to field tiles is unavoidable and there is major concerns over water being backed up onto adjoining properties causing damages to basements, crawl spaces, septic systems and other structures that could be damaged by the standing water.
- The removal of thousands of acres of farmland also impacts the habitat and available food sources for surrounding wildlife. Ohio mandates the use of small wildlife permeable fencing however deer, rabbits, raccoons and squirrels have become dependent upon this cropland as a readily available food source. Forcing these animals to look elsewhere for food.
- Farmland in the United States is diminishing rapidly. While it is true that the corn and soybeans do not end up directly on your plate, they are used to feed the livestock that puts meat on your plate and soybeans are used heavily in other food production. So while you may not see the bean or the kernel on your plate these products still directly affect the food supply of our nation. We are so focused on not being reliant on other countries for energy that we don’t realize we are just trading energy reliance for food reliance.
- The solar BESS system is bi-directional with our current energy grid. Meaning if the BESS depletes its stored energy it can draw energy from the grid to power its monitoring and HVAC systems.
- The BESS system is a Lithium Ion Powered battery. As most people are aware thermal runaway and the risk of electrical fire with lithium batteries raises major safety concerns for the surrounding community.
- Currently only a small portion of these panels are recycled meaning that these panels which are currently classified as toxic waste and cannot be directly disposed of in landfills. These panels have a useful lifespan and will need to be disposed of during the decommissioning process.
- According to the decommissioning plan for this project any portions of the project that are deeper than 3 feet do not have to be removed. This includes buried cable and according to their application pilings that cannot be completely removed will be cut off at least three feet below grade.
- Public safety is also a major concern. During construction the surrounding area will see a dramatic increase in traffic both from workers, as well as general construction equipment.