Utility Pole Solar

Mireya Navarro at the New York Times has a story about solar NIMBYism in New Jersey. Some people in the state are upset about a new program by the Public Service Electric and Gas Company that mounts solar panels to existing utility poles. This is a very creative effort (in my opinion) to retrofit solar panels into a community. But the solar panels are a visual blight, according to the critics. The story in the Times has a picture of them and I don't see it, but the critics may be more sensitive, aesthetically speaking, than I am.

When complete, the panels on the poles are expected to provide half of the 80 megawatts of electricity generated by the utility's overall $515 million solar investment — enough to power 6,500 homes.

Link: Solar Panels Rise Pole by Pole, Followed by Gasps of ‘Eyesore’