A solar panel initiative from the city of Lexington is gaining traction among environmentally-minded homeowners.
Solarize Lexington is a program organized by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. It’s part of a city-wide energy efficiency push to help residents install solar panels at a discounted cost, which can be up to 23 percent.
Steve Ricketts is the chair of the Kentucky Solar Energy Society. The group has used its technical knowledge to get the program off the ground. He said it’s a way to remove barriers for solar panel adoption on an individual level, with 38 of the installations done through the program being for low and moderate income households.
"The number one barrier in people's minds is cost,” Ricketts said. “So let's find a way to give people a discount, and we've got 15 to 20 percent discounts. So that's certainly kind of a big help."
According to the city, it has had nearly 500 requests from homeowners to be a part of the program since it began in March. That’s enough for them to have extended the application deadline an extra month to September 1.
Denise Lynch is one Lexington homeowner who had solar panels installed on her roof, and has had a significant decrease in her electricity costs to less than 20 dollars monthly. She said the reason she signed on for the initiative was because of that affordability.
“Honestly, I've been interested in solar for 35, 40 years, but could never afford it,” Lynch said. “And the program became available, and we were able to work it out to enable me to get the program, and I'm thrilled.”
City officials say they expect to have panels installed on around 80 to 90 homes by the end of the period, with nearly 58 already outfitted.
