Early adopter spreads solar energy to his neighbors

Richard Coin has lived in Northeast Ohio since the 1970s. He currently resides in Hambden township on the northern edge of Geauga County. The retired chemical engineer has spent the last 20 years embracing renewable energy to help power his home and electrify his life. 

Richard’s first foray into distributed generation took place in 2005 when he installed a 2.5 kilowatt (kW) solar array with backup batteries and 1 kW of wind power at his home. The project was funded with help from the Ohio Department of Development’s Energy Loan Fund, which awarded him a grant covering 50% of the project’s $28,800 price tag.

Electrification upgrades enabled by his new solar system followed. To account for the greater electricity demand, he added another 2.5 kW of solar in 2007. This time he benefited from savings through the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The ITC allows homeowners to deduct up to 30% of a system’s cost from their federal income taxes. In 2011, he added another 5 kW array, once again saving through the tax credit. In total, the ITC has saved Richard nearly $9,000 on the cost of his solar upgrades. In 2019, he added additional capacity by restoring used solar panels himself, bringing the total size of his system to 14.5 kW. 

By steadily increasing his solar capacity over the years — with support from state and federal incentives — Richard has reshaped his energy use around clean, renewable power. The opportunity for upfront savings on his investments has provided longt-erm financial security and a sense of pride.

From April to October, Richard does not pay an electric bill. In fact, “those bills are negative.” By producing more energy than he consumes, his system supplies excess electricity to the grid, helping to meet local demand while earning him credits on his monthly bill through a policy called net metering. Those credits help offset his winter energy costs when usage increases.

“My bill for 2024 was … $1,000 and that’s my entire house [plus] all of our transportation, except for longer trips,” shared Richard. He and his wife both drive electric vehicles that charge on the energy they produce. 

Since going solar, Richard has enjoyed seeing distributed energy and electrification take root in his community through what he calls the “neighbor effect.” My neighbor across the street — we go out to dinner every week. And just from him seeing how we benefited from these tax savings, he installed some solar panels,” said Richard. “Every month he says how much he has saved and that he’s putting that money away.” 

His daughter also lives in the neighborhood and installed a solar system of her own while upgrading her heating and cooling to high-efficiency electric heat pumps. “Her overall energy bills have gone down because she’s not burning diesel fuel to heat the house and the heat pump is a lot more efficient than the old-fashioned air conditioner that she had.” Those investments benefited from renewable energy tax credit and rebate savings.

Despite bipartisan support, solar opponents in Congress want to repeal important investments like the ITC that help Ohioans like Richard and his neighbors benefit from solar energy. He hopes his elected officials will continue to support them. “In 2005, there weren’t installers in the area and today you’ve got 25… different vendors that you can choose from,” shared Richard. These programs save money for families and local businesses while creating good solar jobs. 

Solar tax credits have been crucial to the growth of the industry while helping solar owners across northeast Ohio achieve greater energy resiliency and lower utility bills. “In 2005, when I got the funding, a couple [of] newspapers came out, took pictures, wrote articles. That’s from 2005. That was when it was unusual to be putting solar panels on your house. Now, thousands of people are doing what was newsworthy in 2005.” For these trends to continue, it is crucial to preserve investments that make solar more affordable for Ohio homeowners.