There is wholesale environmentalist movement underway in the U.S. against large scale solar farms. The left-wing environmentalist view these solar farms created by firms that usually have a relationship (funding, ownership, etc.) from U.S. electric utility companies as not being beneficial. The claim is that these solar farms allow the U.S. utilities to provide an "illusion" that they are green -- while actually undermining the intent of "green" power -- while also involving a bunch of financial shenanigans to allow power companies to bypass regulatory requirements including rate requirements. (i.e. the regulated electric companies are allowed to charge more for green power in some states which they are effectively buying from a unregulated company which they partially own -- hence providing themselves with a self-servicing benefit.)
The other complaint is that the construction of these large solar farms cause run-off, destruction of woods, and disruption of farmland in their construction -- and hence should be opposed from a zoning perspective. The efforts against solar farms in North Carolina are funded from national environmental left-wing group(s) -- they find and use local activists/residents to oppose the proposed new solar farms in zoning hearings, etc. These are "astro-turf" campaigns and are not really locally funded & based.
The environmental activists want only roof-top solar panels are existing residential and commercial buildings with net-metering payments, etc. Utilities oppose these proposals since they would require a re-build of the grid if adopted on a large scale with many discrete "power sources" spread over a large geographic area. Large solar arrays at a single location are much easier to fit into the the existing grid.
