You may have noticed that we’re trying to incorporate solar into our new building projects. We’re also going to be putting solar on Neighbors Place, which is great not only because it will offset our energy costs and make for a cleaner NWI environment, but it reminds everyone who walks, rolls, or drives by that this future of renewable energy can happen now. We asked our friend and volunteer, Gilles Charriere, to share more about the benefits and challenges of solar in Indiana. Thanks, Gilles, for all your advocacy, education, support, and solar installation skills!

Moving Us Forward

By Gilles Charriere

In 2017, I installed my first solar system. It was a do-it-yourself project for my house and required many hours of research. The result, the clean generation of electricity day after day, was so satisfying that I embarked on a mission to encourage more owners to go solar. I have now been involved in the installation of 6 residential arrays for friends and Respite House. I have no doubt that residential solar can be and should be a big part of our fight to minimize global warming.

Solar farms are efficient but do use valuable land. The landscape of residential roofs seems to me like an untapped resource with amazing potential. As we increase solar and wind generation, the role of fossil fuel plants should be minimized. On May 8th, 2022 California renewable energies achieved a record by providing 103% of the consumer demand. Indiana is far behind. Until the sum of solar and wind on a sunny and breezy day exceeds the demand, there is practically no need to store electricity. We are nowhere close.

As we try to catch up, a new phenomenon has surged which increases demand – electric cars. It is no secret that the manufacturing of lithium batteries is a dirty business and causes geopolitical turmoil. However it is a net improvement over the disastrous effects of oil. The beauty of driving electric, as long as we are not wasteful (lately I have discovered the joy of cycling anytime possible) is that we can choose to charge while the sun is shining. Electricity prices can be made to fluctuate as a function of supply to motivate consumers to use electricity when it’s available.

Project Neighbors volunteers install solar modules on Respite House I & II under the direction of Gilles

Given the technological availability of clean energy and the urgency of climate change, one would imagine our local government hard at work to incentivize modernization. Sadly, it’s the opposite. Several of our Indiana legislators, including our district 4 representative, who receives money from coal lobbyists, passed legislation that effectively killed Net Metering on July 1st 2022. With Net Metering, solar owners were able to sell their excess electricity at normal prices. Now they only receive a fraction (20 to 25% in most cases) for electricity that is immediately sold to neighbors at full price.

Until we demand common sense modernization from our elected officials, the lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry will prevail. Solar energy is instrumental in moving us toward a cleaner future and many of us will be a part of it.