Stealth Windmills - They Only Come Out at Night
People object to building offshore windmill farms for at least a couple of different reasons - they're an eyesore and a danger to birds. Land-based ones also raise the temperature beneath them by a couple of degrees too.
The solution might be stealth windmills. These would only pop up from beneath the water at night when no one can see them and birds aren't usually flying around. The power to raise and lower themselves would get first call on the energy they produced (and it would be stored in their base). They would also have sensors built in that would turn on a set of lights in the event that any aircraft of ship approached.
The warmth produced by land-based models of the pop-up windmills might actually produce another benefit - reduced heating costs for nearby houses during the winter.
One more bonus - in the event of severe weather the windmills could be dropped back down into their silos, getting them safely out of the way in time to avoid major repair costs.
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although I think your idea does solve the perceived problem, I think as windmills power more of our society, the aesthetic complaints will disappear. Initially people didn't even like overhead power lines, but they're a sign of progress and now we don't even notice them.
Also, in the midwest, where the most reliable big winds are, the absense of the sun in the sky often cuts the wind speeds to near zero at night. I realize this isn't the case on the coasts.
I wonder how people who live on the coasts will feel about your idea?
True about the overhead lines. I only notice them when I'm jogging under them and they're buzzing above me.
I do live on the Florida coast though and wouldn't mind it if the windmills came out at night. It might even be a thing of beauty to watch them rise up out of the water on a moonlit night and unfold their wings (blades).