Solar energy has seemed out of reach of most Americans for many years.
While steep upfront costs have been a barrier for many hoping to access solar energy, things are rapidly changing. Prices have gone down by 65% in ten years and state and federal incentives are in place (but will phase out).
Valparaiso 2022 Workshop Supplemental Materials
Thank you to everyone who attended our April 2022 Valparaiso Rooftop Solar Workshop on April 13th!
- View the Workshop Recording
- Contact our Presenters
- View the PowerPoint Presentations:
- Chris Rohaly: Solar 101
- Dan Robinson: Financial Incentives and Rooftop Solar
- Jesse Kharbanda: Making Rooftop Solar More Accessible & Affordable in Indiana
- Emily Plunkett: Workshop Introduction, Engaging Your Lawmakers
1.) VIEW RECORDINGS OF OUR VIRTUAL 2020 SOLAR WORKSHOPS
- Friday, September 25th at noon: Northwest Indiana (view the recording; reach out to our presenters)
- Tuesday, October 13th at noon: Fishers/Geist/Lawrence (view the recording; reach out to our presenters)
- Tuesday, October 27th at 7:00 pm: Southeast Indiana (view the recording; reach out to our presenters)
- Thursday, December 3rd at noon: Cass/Miami/Marshall County (view the recording; reach out to our presenters)
- Tuesday, December 8th at noon: Elkhart/Kosciusko County workshop (view the recording; reach out to our presenters)
2.) JOIN A SOLAR CO-OP IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Our great partner Solar United Neighbors (SUN) is bringing you a Solar + EV Charger Co-op — a free group to help you go solar. The solar co-op will help area homeowners and small business owners learn about solar together and purchase solar panels at a group rate from a single installer. The whole process is designed to make things easy for you! Together, co-op members will learn about solar energy and leverage their numbers to get competitive pricing and quality solar installations. After a competitive bidding process facilitated by SUN, a group of volunteers from the co-op will select a solar company to complete the co-op’s installations. The best part is that the whole thing is free. Joining a co-op does not obligate members to purchase solar or EV chargers. Instead, each member will have the option to individually purchase panels and electric vehicle chargers based on the free, custom quote they receive at the installer’s group rate.
SUN has 6 co-ops throughout the state (though they are currently closed to new participants):
- Boone & Hamilton Counties Solar and EV Charger Co-op
- Fort Wayne Solar and EV Charger Co-op
- Hamilton County Solar and EV Charger Co-op
- Indianapolis Solar and EV Charger Co-op
- Northern Indiana Solar and EV Charger Co-op
- Northwest Indiana Solar and EV Charger Co-op
Our friends at Solarize Indiana also have co-ops in East Central Indiana, Bloomington, Columbus, and Evansville.
3.) VIEW PDF PRESENTATIONS from our past workshops
- Presentation 1: Rooftop solar: the technology, costs, incentives (2019: SW Indiana; NW Central Indiana; NW Indiana; 2020: NW Indiana; Hamilton County/Lawrence Township; SE Indiana Workshop (presenter requested to reference the YouTube recording above; NC Indiana workshop ; Northern Indiana workshop
- Presentation 2: Batteries, Net Metering, and Federal Incentives (2020); State & Federal Incentives (2020)
- Presentation 3: Solar and Electric Vehicles (2020)
- Presentation 4: Case Studies from Ancilla College and South Bend; Goshen College and the City of Goshen (2019); Case Studies from Marshall County (2020)
- Presentation 5: Making Solar More Affordable and Accessible: the Public Policy Horizon (2019, 2020)
- Presentation 6: Effectively Engaging Your Elected Officials (2019, 2020)
Please check out the resources below on solar energy incentives, financing, installers, and legislation.
Be sure to visit this page in the future, where we will be offering you more online resources and pointing you to webinars and events that will help you make the best possible decision regarding your pursuing rooftop solar! Feel free to reach us at energy@hecweb.org if you have a question or comment about our Solar Energy Initiative.
4.) TAKE ACTION RELATED TO ROOFTOP SOLAR ENERGY PUBLIC POLICY
- Learn about net metering.
- Read our assessment about SB 309, a very controversial 2017 law that phases out net metering in Indiana.
- Learn about the state of rooftop solar in 2020 Indiana and about the implementation of SB 309 (which starts at 34:42), with a focus on Vectren.
- Get acquainted with the Indiana clean energy economy.
- Contact your state representative and state senator and encourage them to support legislation that extends the life of net metering, which is otherwise set to be eliminated by the middle of 2022. Learn about 2022 legislation that would preserve “monthly netting”.
5.) LEARN MORE ABOUT HEC’S WORK TO ADVANCE ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY SOLAR FARMS
Check our HEC’s dedicated webpage on environmentally-friendly solar farms.