Like a massive Christo project but without the advance publicity

[kpete]

By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: April 27, 2011


ORADELL, N.J. — Nancy and Eric Olsen could not pinpoint exactly when it happened or how. All they knew was one moment they had a pastoral view of a soccer field and the woods from their 1920s colonial-style house; the next all they could see were three solar panels.

"Oil prices are going through the roof, planet is being destroyed by power plants and these people who were given access to sustainable energy are complaining about the view. Attitudes need to change or we're doomed."

......................

Around the corner lives Tom Trobiano, 61, a liquor salesman, now adapting to the lone solar panel hanging over his driveway. “When it’s up close,” he said, “the panel takes on a life of its own.”

Like a massive Christo project http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/ but without the advance publicity, installations have been popping up across New Jersey for about a year now, courtesy of New Jersey’s largest utility, the Public Service Electric and Gas Company. Unlike other solar projects tucked away on roofs or in industrial areas, the utility is mounting 200,000 individual panels in neighborhoods throughout its service area, covering nearly three-quarters of the state.

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/science/earth/28solar.html?_r=2&hp

personally, i LOVE this idea
MORE please, kpete

[FSogol]

1. People just like to complain.

:facepalm:

[WhiteTara]

2. Trees also provide shade and oxygen

and they absorb CO2. There should have been a better way for the panels, which I don't see as putting out much wattage per panel. Looks like it's to power the street lights, which could have been turned into LED lights for a tiny consumption of power and the street would have remained a neighborhood.

[MineralMan]

4. How do some solar panels alter the neighborhood qualities?

Is being a neighborhood dependent on such things? If so, it was weak in the first place. I always thought that a neighborhood depended on the people who live there.

[pinto]

3. Sounds like a good, affordable idea to me. And I see they're also

doing standard roof-top installations around the state.

:thumbsup:

[MineralMan]

7. I agree. Distributed solar power is potentially a big help.

I hope we see a rapid growth in this. Here in St. Paul, they're talking about doing streetlight conversions to LED and solar. I'm all for it, and am encouraging that changeover.

[CBGLuthier]

5. 15 wires and a pole every 40 feet made for a great view?

Doesn't look much different with the panels.

[MineralMan]

6. I had the same thought. But, you know, people don't even

notice the overhead wiring. They'll stop noticing the solar panels very quickly, too. It's just amazing what upsets some people. A guy gets the flu and skips mowing for a week, and the neighbors start gossiping about the neighborhood going downhill, instead of going and mowing the sick guy's lawn. It's hard to figure out some people.

[NYC_SKP]

8. When I see Solar Modules like that I think, "Intelligence People Live Here".

And I am right.

:patriot:

[MineralMan]

9. Yup. I wish I could afford to cover my entire south-facing half

of the roof with panels. I can't, but I would do it in a second, if I could.