By Erica Peterson/KPR
Berea, KY – Pretty soon, utility customers in Berea will have a chance to generate a small amount of their electricity. Berea Municipal Utilities is looking for investors for a 60-panel solar farm.
Steve Boyce is the chair of the utility's advisory board. He says becoming a partner in the Berea Solar Farm will end up costing about $3 per watt cheaper than the costs of installing an individual residential system.
"It's pretty expensive at this point to install a rooftop system that would generate some significant portion of the electricity that you would use in a typical home."
Customers can lease panels for about $700 each for 25 years, and Boyce estimates the initial cost would be recouped in 23 years. He says the farm will be small at first, but if there's enough interest it could grow larger and be a model for other Kentucky communities.