The new convener of Canberra's Alternative Energy Association, physicist Peter Lyons, says Canberrans are still a long way from practising what they preach and accepting alternative energy in their backyards.
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"We are not there yet. I mean with Uriarra, there were a lot of protests with residents saying their views would be ruined. And that was all pretty unfortunate," Mr Lyons said.
Mr Lyons said while he had been to a meeting discussing Elementus Energy's controversial project, he was not fully across the project and the decision to move the proposed solar farm to Williamsdale.
But he said more generally that ACT environmentalists needed to get used to pockets of alternative energy in their midst.
"There is always an element of protest from people who don't like the idea of an industrial facility springing up near them, but they are quite happy to buy electricity that comes from hundreds of kilometres away that just happens to come from a coal-fire power station," Mr Lyons said.
He said argument that solar panels shine light into people's homes amused him, considering solar panels are designed to reflect as little light as possible.
"You can't completely beautify everything, but people have to realise there is a cost to any form of industrial development that makes energy," he said.
Mr Lyons said decentralised alternative power generation was "here to stay", even if not everyone was ready.
"It's hard for people to realise now that we are moving into the next era where energy is becoming much more decentralised, like PV panels on peoples' roofs and wind farms dotted around the countryside, instead of a small number of coal-fired power stations," he said.
Practically a pioneer of residential alternative energy, Mr Lyons was among the first people to design and rebuild their homes to incorporate solar in Canberra in the 1980s.
