MILLER TOWNSHIP — The Knox County Regional Airport Authority is asking Frasier Solar LLC to address solar glare if the project progresses, but the concern is an outdated one, according to the company planning the project.
Open Road Renewables, a Texas-based energy firm, wants to install a 120-megawatt solar array in Knox County.
The OPSB held a public hearing in Mount Vernon’s Knox Memorial Theater on May 23. The board will meet again in August in the offices of the Ohio Public Utilities Commission for an adjudicatory hearing.
The project has caused a stir among residents.
Now, the Knox County Airport Authority has weighed in.
A resolution unanimously passed by the regional airport authority board on April 24 “urges the Ohio Power Siting Board to issue conditions that will ensure the solar arrays in the Frasier project are in compliance with the recommendations of the FAA Glare Hazard Study.”
“To protect the safety of general aviation in Knox County, we believe this requires the mitigation of glare from the Frasier solar arrays visible to aircraft approaching from any direction within a two-mile radius of the airport,” the airport authority’s resolution reads.
The regional airport board attached a July 2015 Federal Aviation Administration study on glare as a hazard for pilots, according to a May 30 filing with the Ohio Power Sighting Board.
“While solar power panels provide a useful means to generate revenue and to provide energy locally, it does pose a potential hazard in the form of glare,” the filing reads.
The study concluded pilots exposed to glare during flights in a simulation were impaired.
Impairment was worse when glare sources were straight ahead of the pilot and for long durations, according to the study.
Airport board chair cites negative economic impact to airport
Airport board chair Joe Ziegman expressed concern over potential negative economic impact for the airport if the project goes through and urged other area elected officials to “join with the Mount Vernon Mayor, Mount Vernon city council, Miller Township trustees and prevent industrial solar on farmland within a two-mile radius of the Knox County Airport.”
He then addressed the Ohio Power Sighting Board, the agency responsible for reviewing and acting on the solar project’s application.
“To the pending decision by the Ohio Power Sighting Board–the proposed industrial solar near the airport will produce a severe hazard for all inbound, outbound flights and limit future activity of student pilots, true economic expansion from business,” Ziegman said.
“This is a straightforward decision yet likely catastrophic if ignored,” he added.
The summary states the airport is the best-suited location for growth, due to its long runway and open land for expansion of hanger space. The summary also states surrounding regional airports do not have the land available to build or have runways that are too short for jets.
Hazards such as multiple solar fields in the area will prevent such expansion and negate the potential benefit of expected regional growth in the coming years, the summary further states.
Open Road responds to glare concern
Vice President of Open Road Renewables Craig Adair said in a written statement that he appreciates the Knox County Airport board’s desire to ensure the safety of pilots and aircraft using its facilities, but said the board adopted a resolution without first seeking the facts about solar facilities and air navigation.
Adair said the authority’s resolution was based solely on a decade-old study that does not reflect current FAA policy, current science, or pilot experience.
Adair said he would have been happy to respond to the airport authority’s concerns and provide facts, which, he said, show the Frasier Solar project complies with FAA regulations.
“Unfortunately it seems the airport’s board prefers to join the misinformation campaign funded by competing energy interests than address any actual safety concerns. As always, Open Road stands ready and willing to do the latter,” Adair said and cited.
Updated FAA guidelines
Adair cited an FAA document, which states solar panels at airports “…are designed to absorb sunlight (rather than reflect it), minimizing potential impacts of glare.”
FAA concluded that in most cases the glint and glare from solar energy systems to pilots on final approach is similar to glint and glare pilots routinely experience from water bodies, glass-facade buildings, parking lots and similar features.
Based on its improved understanding of the issue, Adair said, FAA’s final policy does not require that proposed solar facilities at airports be studied for glare effects on pilots.
This independent, local reporting provided by our Report for America Corps members is brought to you in part by the generous support of the Knox County Foundation and Kokosing.
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