Consrvation Currents: A Solar panel in Every Pot? and An Ode to Maggie
by Robert Hyams,
November 3, 2011, page 15

A Solar Panel In Every Pot?

by Robert Hyams

It’s never been easier to invest in residential PV (photovoltaic power generation). Around $800 (after rebates and credits) gets you a solar system that will be operating in the black within six years. Want to get it with no out-of-pocket cash? You can do that as well. Any way you get it, it’s a relatively reliable and carbon-free source of electricity (acknowledging that there are production and disposal impacts).
No surprise that we Charlotters are jumping on this opportunity. Panels are popping up all over the landscape. But this renewable energy technology does come with an external cost: a visual impact on our landscape. Views throughout town have drawn praise from Vermonters and visitors alike. This preservation of landscape and view shed didn’t happen by accident. It was the culmination of a detailed planning process and widespread buy-in from residents and landowners.
It is my hope that we can create a planning process for renewable energy systems that will be just as effective.
Recently, I participated in an interesting conference call organized by Lukas Snelling (who grew up in Charlotte), Director of Communications for Energize Vermont based in Rutland. The call brought together folks from across the state who are working to develop solar farms in their respective communities. Though the schemes vary, they all offer the following elements:
• solar panels are grouped on a single parcel,
• community members can invest and become shareholders,
• shareholders derive net metering benefits.
Siting, installation and maintenance costs are anticipated to be lower due to economies of scale. In each case, careful consideration was given to site selection with considerable town oversight. Now, that’s not necessarily the case with all PV developments. If a landowner wants to create a solar installation of any size, he or she must answer to the Public Service Board. By statute, the town has a reduced voice. If, on the other hand, a town takes a proactive approach to community-based renewable energy, the town will ensure its standards will be considered from the start.
The mission of Energize Vermont speaks to “establishing renewable energy solutions that are in harmony with the irreplaceable character of Vermont, and that contribute to the well-being of all her people.”
Sounds like a pretty good starting point for Charlotte.

Ode to Maggie
This morning we lost our dog Maggie. It was unexpected, the loss truly devastating to our entire family. Painful as it is, I’ve already begun to reminisce and reflect – making it difficult to concentrate right now on solar panels and town plans.
By all conventional measures, Maggie was a really great dog. She was loyal, affectionate, didn’t need a leash, didn’t need a fence. She caught Frisbees; she learned not to kill the free-ranging hens. Of course she had her foibles as all dogs do. She may have barked too much, tracked mud into the house and onto the furniture, and would incessantly pester, as only she could, for her daily (sometimes twice daily) walk.
When I would head out the front door, she would be laying in wait, just knowing in her heart of hearts that we were going for that walk! Like a shot she was headed to the woods, only to look back and see me climb in my car realizing that, no, in fact we would not be going for that walk. Oh, the look of utter despair. She would slink off, head hanging, glancing my way (Is that an actual tear? I didn’t know dogs could cry.), and retreat under the porch. And that’s how it was, day in and day out for the past six years. Well, her act worked pretty well. I can count on one hand the number of days over the past six years that we didn’t end up going for that walk.
For these skills of persuasion I owe Maggie a huge debt of gratitude. Those daily walks – in the heat, in the cold, in wind, rain, sleet and snow, sometimes in the woods, other times in the fields, slogging through streams and wetlands, fighting our way (actually my way, as she would just sail right under) through stands of buckthorn and prickly ash – those daily walks played a big role in my understanding of wildlife and habitats, allowing me to experience the Charlotte landscape in all its beauty and natural wonder.
Maggie, I miss you already.