The need to balance these two goals was the challenge facing the town's planning commission last week when it refused to allow the owner of a solar company to install unscreened solar panels on its rooftop.

Barry Cinnamon, owner of Akeena Solar at 605 University Ave., was granted a permit to install two rows of solar panels on the company's rooftop late last year, with the condition that the panels be screened. However, town staff later noticed that the panels are visible from the street.

According to Cinnamon, three of the 18 panels are visible from the corner of Roberts Road and University Avenue.

Asking the commission to "be consistent with the reality we're facing," Cinnamon said the state offers rebates to people who use such solar energy and that the town's general plan encourages the use of such energy.

"I would like to see that encouragement be translated into something practical," he said, explaining that the requirement to screen panels is costly and might discourage people from switching over to an alternative energy source. In his letter to the town, Cinnamon indicated that a screening wall extending around the perimeter of the building would cost at least $8,000.

Along with encouraging the use of solar energy, the town must uphold architectural excellence, as stated in the general plan, said Community Development Director Bud Lortz.

Presently, the blue solar panels are tilted at a 30-degree angle on the rooftop, which allows them to be 11 percent more efficient than if they were flat, Cinnamon said.

Though laying the panels flat would reduce the efficiency, the panels would still work, said Commissioner Phil Micciche.

When it came time to decide, commission Vice Chair Jeanne Drexel moved to deny the application because the panels "add insult to injury," based on looking at the air conditioning unit and other equipment already on the rooftop.

In a 6-1 vote, with Commissioner Michael Burke dissenting, the commission denied Cinnamon's request that the solar panels remain unscreened. Commissioner Lee Quintana said the unscreened panels aren't consistent with what is stated in the general plan.

But the state is in a power crisis, and here is someone in town who is trying to address that problem, Burke said.

"We may be following the letter of the general plan, but I think we're missing the spirit of it," he said.

Cinnamon said after the meeting that he plans to appeal the commission's decision.