San Juan Islands, most power comes from the Washington state mainland, by way of two underwater cables
local electric utility wants to cover a pasture near the town of Friday Harbor with 5,200 solar panels
$13 million project would more than double San Juan County’s energy production
2.5-megawatt solar array would be big enough to power about 2,000 homes
sheep could still graze beneath the rows of solar panels, each panel swiveling on stilts to track the sun.
“We shouldn’t be using raw, undeveloped lands for solar arrays, especially natural areas, and prime agricultural lands,” Nielsen said. “I feel strongly that actually, we should be putting these solar arrays on buildings and over parking lots and places like that.”
It’s a cleared farming lot.
No more than 20% of any property within the island’s agricultural reserve, including the proposed solar-project property, can be converted to non-agricultural uses.
using just over 5.5% of the parcel for non-ag use
1,200 people already signing up to be eligible to purchase solar power from it.
looking to add a third power cable from the mainland.