Solar Harvesting is Agriculture
- Paul Biebel Speaks at Ivek Celebration Event
The Harvesting of Solar Energy is agriculture. Geothermal and Wind power is too. In fact, I contend that all forms of energy harvesting is agriculture. Property Taxes are determined in various ways but one way is by how we use a specific piece of property. Some activities are taxed at a lower level than others. Farming, for instance, is one of them. Energy Harvesting is yet to be defined within a specific “use group” but the sooner we do it the better.
Some define a Solar Array as a concoction of manufactured parts and pieces that scientifically converts sunlight into electricity. I don’t like this definition. It makes it sound like Solar Harvesting is no different than an industrial manufacturing facility. Would do ourselves a big favor, while we still can, to insist on defining it as a form of synthetic soil from which we harvest a crop of energy.
This is an important designation and one worth the fight because it will prevent predatory taxation; a sport that seems to be getting some traction in Vermont and one that promises to ultimately discourage people from investing in it. Many towns in Vermont have already applied a perceived increase in appraisal of property because an owner has chosen to invest into renewable energy of one sort or another. They claim that property values increase when people invest in Sustainable Strategies and Renewable Energy. Their logic is defendable from one direction but not necessarily for another. I suppose that the argument is true at face value. Certainly, if the value of a property goes up, then so should the taxes, right? But what about farms? We all agree that we want to save the farms and we know that in order to do so, we have to cut them some slack on the value of their property because they are farming on it. Without sounding too redundant, I would then ask “What happens Renewable Energy is allowed to be in the same “use group” as agriculture?
Some townfolks are quite vocal about insisting on increased taxes, claiming that Solar is only for the benefit of the rich man. As RE providers, we hate these comments. We know that we would like everyone to be able to afford Renewable Energy on their homes. We have to work hard to move our culture away from this mindset and one way to do it is to educate the next generation to view all forms of renewable energy as a type of farming. It begs the question, doesn’t it? We can all have gardens in our backyards without getting taxed on them, can’t we? We don’t get taxed for growing cucumbers, corn or tomatoes do we?
Let’s open our minds a bit and think about it for just a second. I believe that a residential solar array is no different than a garden and we shouldn’t think of it as a manmade industrial structure. Instead of harvesting edible crops that give our bodies energy, we harvest sunlight to give our homes energy. What’s the difference? A crop is a crop. In solar vernacular, the word, “Harvest” is a term that even the Solar Engineers and Scientists have designated to their daily measure of kilowatt production. Solar inverters display the daily “harvest” of kilowatts.
If property owners aren’t taxed extra for having gardens on their property, then why do we tax them for having solar panels? On a large scale solar project, like one that we recently installed on an industrial lot, I would argue even further that the land that is designated for a solar array should be reclassified as “agricultural” and only taxed accordingly. If this was the case, the property should be taxed less than it was before, not more. This is because they have changed the use of it from industrial to farming. Instead of being punished with an increase in property taxes the average Renewable Energy Investor should have their taxes reduced because their land has been changed from an industrial lot to an agricultural lot. Their crop of kilowatts is sent to the market place just like any other crop. While some may say that this is money in the property owner’s pocket, it is still no different than the farmer who receives income for his crops that he exports to market. He pays his income tax like anyone else at the end of the year. His profits may increase because he has a good crop of sunlight but who cares? If his profits increase, then he pays his taxes based on his income, just like the farmer does.
Finally, if we want common folks like myself and all my neighbors to consider investing into renewable energy, then we can’t be threatening them all along the way with predatory increases in taxes to the point where it neutralizes any purpose in doing it to begin with.
- Paul Biebel, President Prudent Living, Inc.
All Things Work Together For Good
Don’t build problems into your solutions…
“All things work together for good” is a spiritual principle; one that requires faith because we can’t see how things worked for good until later. Throughout history, science has produced marvelous examples of how combinations of various formulas can produce great benefit. But we have to admit that such discoveries also came on the tail of many failed attempts. We also have to admit, therefore, that even failure can often contribute to our ultimate good in certain circumstances. But not always.
I have been thinking about how we are experiencing an undeniable paradigm shift in our culture. Many people have awakened to realize that they have been riding a wave of presumption and are making corrections to reverse their course. The interesting thing is that they are attempting to do so by engaging with the best of today’s technology; an advantage that the early settlers didn’t have.
Just as it is said in a spiritual sense that “A house or nation divided against itself with conflicting doctrines will fall”, I acknowledged that it is also true that a house constructed of incompatible sciences will fall as well. For example, when all things don’t work together in the construction of a house, it is entirely possible that such a house will suffer from conflicting technologies and fall from within.”
After 40 years of being in construction, I have observed some badly constructed houses; houses where its builder presumed to know what he was doing when he really didn’t. I can think of one extreme situation that happened as a result of the first oil embargo when Jimmy Carter was president. Because of a huge spike in oil prices, prospective homeowners suddenly wanted energy efficient homes but little was known about Building Performance Sciences. Local builders responded by just tightening things up in whatever ways they could, never considering that they could be building significant problems into their solutions.
I was hired by a lawyer to produce a diagnosis of why a house that was only a few years old was in such terrible condition that it was no longer fit to live in. This 3000 sf home was fine looking on the outside but my conclusion for remedy was that it would be best if it was torn down and rebuilt from scratch rather than attempt to repair it. I don’t make these determinations lightly, of course, but the truth is that there was mold in virtually everything from the basement sills all the way to the ridge pole of the house. The structure had rotted significantly from internal moisture as well as from infiltration from the outside. Mushrooms were growing in the carpet and coming out the walls in every room. Sheetrock was turning black everywhere and it was falling down onto the furniture from a high cathedral ceiling. Even the plywood under the shingles and siding was rotted.
Combinations of presumption and ignorance of new technologies did not work together for good in this case because of one thing; someone who would not apply prudence with science. He was an older builder and was actually a pretty good carpenter. He was also an upstanding man in his community and the owners assumed that this is all you need in order to get a quality built house. Sadly, none of those fine personal qualities would help him out of this predicament. The owners didn’t hate him but they, too, were desperate. They had invested their entire inheritance into building their dreamhouse.
In this case, the house was condemned and even though the owners won their case against this builder, they still got nothing from him because he had no insurance or net worth. From what I am told, both parties lost everything because nobody had anything. Let’s just say that things started out bad and stayed that way. It didn’t turn out for good and it never would.
I recently came upon an old metaphor that caught my eye. I cannot claim that these thoughts are my own but I can most certainly claim that they are thoughts worth owning. The metaphor applies to music and medicine.
The unknown author writes, “In the world of music, harmony is a beautiful thing. We know that discordant tones drive us away while beautiful harmonics draw us near. Although a song without words can be beautiful thing to listen to, like a symphony, but those melodies that resound deepest and last the longest are those that are expressed together with words.”
He continues, “There is also the world of medicine. Some medicines, when taken alone, might destroy us but when properly mixed with other medicines, they can cure us. For example, a doctor prescribes some medicine for your ailment. From there, you go to the pharmacy where it is made up. Something is taken from this drawer, something from that bottle, and something else from that shelf. Any one of those ingredients could be a deadly poison and kill you outright if you should take it separately, but the pharmacist puts one into the mortar, and then another, and another, and when he has ground them all up with his pestle and has made a compound, he gives them all to you as a whole, and together they work for your good. But any single one of the ingredients might either have operated fatally or in a manner detrimental to your health. Remember, it is not the one thing that is for your good; it is the one thing put with another thing, and that with a third, and that with a fourth, and all these things mixed together that work for good.”
When prudence synchronizes with the science of Sustainable Strategies, Building Performance and Renewable Energy they produce good things. Although each of these subjects can be separate works of their own, their impact is felt most positively when working in harmony with each other.
This is the goal of Prudent Living.
