Out-of-state solar companies are using aggressive marketing tactics in Kentucky to lure potential customers, and experts say anyone interested in having solar panels installed should do their homework.

People should never end up with solar panels installed in the shade, for instance, or with overpriced systems lacking basic safety requirements or proper permits.

Rachel Norton, energy specialist for the Mountain Association, said one major red flag is an installer who promises a government check or offers to lower their price based on a federal tax credit.

"And you're never going to receive that federal tax credit as a check. That operates differently. You shouldn't be expecting to receive a check in the mail," Norton explained. "Anything that seems strange around how you may receive money in the form of your tax credit, that's shady."

She pointed to the Kentucky Solar Energy Society's website as a good resource. The Mountain Association also provides business owners, local governments, and nonprofits with third-party energy audits, which can help determine which energy changes could save the most money.

Ben Tatum, owner of Appalachian Energy Works, a solar installer and energy efficiency company, encouraged people to avoid any business providing an estimate without visiting the property in person.

"I would want to make sure that someone actually visits me onsite before I ever sign a contract or do a deal," Tatum advised. "Because there's so many more things they can figure out onsite."

Norton added public education about solar power is critical to ensuring panels are installed at a fair price by reputable installers, and the buyer receives realistic savings estimates.

"It really hinders a lot of the things that we've worked on," Norton pointed out. "Like creating this community and ecosystem around how powerful energy efficacy and clean energy and renewables can be, for Kentucky and specifically, the Appalachian region."

People also can report questionable bids or suspicious activity to law enforcement and the Better Business Bureau.

A recently signed law expands New York City's solar property tax abatement. This four year tax abatement allows for the construction of solar generating systems with residential and commercial buildings in the city. Building owners would end up saving more than $62,000 per year. The new legislation expands the abatement from 20% to 30% starting in 2024.

Noah Ginsburg, executive director of the New York Solar Energy Industries Association, said this can help make up any lost progress in the city's goal to reach 1-gigawatt of solar by 2030.

"The city has made some good progress toward that goal, but I don't think they were on track to achieve that goal necessarily," Ginsburg said. "This expanded incentive we think puts us more on track to hit that goal. Our forecast is that this will help close that gap by about 95 megawatts, give or take."

While this bill has its own benefits, it can boost other climate legislation in the city. A bill has recently been proposed by City Councilmember Sandy Nurse to get 100 megawatts of solar on city-owned buildings by 2025. By 2030, the bill expands that target to 150 megawatts into private buildings.

Despite the benefits it poses, the abatement was only extended to 2034, at which point legislation will have to extend it again. Ginsburg said that is due to keeping the city's funding in line with federal programs, and added there are plans to introduce a bill to strengthen the state's residential solar tax credit.

"So, anywhere in New York State, today, if you install solar panels on your home, you're entitled to a tax credit of up to 25% of the cost of the system," he explained. "That incentive is capped at $5,000 per household, and that cap hasn't increased since 2006."

Ginsburg noted this proposed legislation would be an inflation adjustment to the incentive cap, and hopes to see the bill before the State Legislature in next year's session.


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New research from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found making hydrogen from natural gas, so-called "blue hydrogen," is not much better than burning fossil fuels, and will waste billions in federal government spending.

David Schlissel, director of resource planning analysis at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and the study's co-author, said people should be paying attention to the issue because the federal government is banking on blue hydrogen technology he argued could worsen climate change instead of mitigating its effects.

"The government is planning to spend maybe upwards of $70 billion on subsidies related to hydrogen," Schlissel pointed out. "There are a lot of uncertainties with the technology, and with factors like how much natural gas, which is used in the production of blue hydrogen, how much is going to leak into the atmosphere."

In addition, the report found government agencies may be significantly understating the environmental impact of methane, the primary component of natural gas. Fossil fuel companies have said blue hydrogen produced from methane or coal can be manufactured cleanly and can be part of the solution to the climate crisis.

Schlissel contended U.S. Department of Energy models are also based on an extremely optimistic set of assumptions about future carbon-capture technology. Models currently estimate 95% or more of the carbon dioxide produced at blue hydrogen facilities will be captured.

"There is no facility in the world that captures anywhere near that much carbon dioxide," Schlissel countered. "And the testing that's gone on to date is relatively small scale."

According to the report, carbon dioxide emissions involved in fully compressing, storing and transporting the hydrogen to the site where it will be used is more than three times as much as the Department of Energy's clean hydrogen standard.

A proposal to allow utility-scale solar operations for Washington Township in Delaware County is meeting with some setbacks and one nonpartisan group thinks it is time for more discussion.

Almost 200,000 Indiana homes are powered by solar energy, but the Delaware County Commission issued a moratorium on solar development last year. It created a study committee for further review and then, the unexpected death of a commissioner delayed creation of a new ordinance.

Linda Hanson, spokesperson for the League of Women Voters of Muncie-Delaware County, said the community needs to use the city's resources economically and responsibly.

"We believe that natural resources should be managed as interrelated parts of life-supporting ecosystems," Hanson explained. "We need to conserve and protect those resources for future availability."

The League backs ending the moratorium and passing an ordinance to approve solar installations in the Muncie area, based on a responsible review of each proposal on its individual merits. Another hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2.

Landowners in towns from Gaston to Matthews are voicing concerns about their property values potentially dropping if more solar farms are built. Some are also upset they were notified about a 2021 ordinance for another solar project, Meadow Forge, after it had been approved.

Hanson thinks the commissioners are leaning toward lifting the moratorium and allowing more solar development, with sufficient review.

"You try and look at how this can work responsibly, and that seems to be where we're getting pushback," Hanson observed. "When we track it, it seems to be coming from people who have investments in coal and petroleum."

Indiana is already home to the Mammoth Solar farm in Starke and Pulaski counties. The 13,000 acre facility is the country's largest. Built in 2021, the farm is expected to bring $1.5 billion in investment into the state over the next five years.


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