Unpopular opinion: the wind turbine shadow flicker thing is way overblown

I live about a quarter mile from a new wind farm that went up last year near Henderson. Everyone in town was up in arms about the flicker effect from the blades messing with people's eyesight and causing seizures. But I actually sat down and timed it with a stopwatch over three afternoons. The flicker only happens for about 12 minutes total each day, and only when the sun is low. I get that it might bug someone with a specific condition, but the way people talk you'd think it's constant strobe lights all day. Has anyone else nearby actually measured it themselves or just went along with the panic?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael_green4421d ago

My neighbor did the same thing and came up with ten minutes tops.

drew_jones3121d ago

Had a buddy who lives out by a smaller wind setup over in Greenbank. He was dead set against it before it even went up, talking about the flicker giving him migraines. So I told him to actually clock it, like you did. He sat there one Saturday with a beer and a timer, and after about two hours he called me laughing. It was maybe eight minutes total, and half of that was just clouds moving weird. He said the neighbors were still complaining at the town meeting though, even after he showed them his notes. People just get locked into an idea and facts don't matter much after that.

phoenix57320d ago

Wonder if those migraines are actually from the flicker or just people getting worked up over something they already decided to hate. Feels like half the complaints about wind turbines boil down to people not liking change more than any real physical effect. I mean, if it was really that bad you'd think there would be way more people with actual medical proof instead of just strong opinions at town meetings.

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