What is shadow flicker?
“Under certain combinations of geographical position, time of day and time of year, the sun may pass behind a turbine rotor and cast a shadow over neighbouring properties. When the blades rotate a shadow forms for short periods and this effect is known as ‘shadow flicker’. Shadow flicker is considered an issue when the blade shadow passes over a narrow opening, such as a neighbouring property’s window. The main cause for concern is the potential annoyance to homeowners. This is an issue that can be completely mitigated, if required, through understanding the periods of concern and controlling the turbines appropriately during these periods.”
Conclusions
- The online planning guidance states that houses within a distance equivalent to 10 x rotor diameter (equivalent to 470m for the proposed turbine) may be impacted by shadow flicker
- There are no properties within this 470m zone of potential impact
- It was shown that the location of the proposed turbine relative to surrounding houses means that shadow flicker would not have an impact on these properties.
Overall shadow flicker is considered to be an area of perceived concern for nearby residents but for this development it has been shown to have no actual impact on resident’s amenity.”
Noise
“During the operational phase there are two potential sources of noise from a wind turbine; aerodynamic noise from the movement of the blades through the air, and mechanical noise from the operation of turbine engine components (e.g. gearbox and generator) in the nacelle.
Modern wind turbines have been designed to be considerably quieter than earlier turbine models and significant progress has been made in recent years in achieving lower noise signatures. Well designed modern wind turbines are generally quiet in operation and compared to the noise of road traffic and construction activities in other locations, the noise from wind turbines is very low.
Conclusions
- The closest residential property is approximately 1.8km from the turbine location.
- The noise level from the wind turbine will not exceed the recommended noise levels set out in the ETSU guidance
Overall noise concerns are considered to be low and are considered able to be adequately represented and mitigated through; sympathetic construction scheduling in the case of construction noise and a condition relating to operational noise being below the agreed noise limits at nearby dwellings.”
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