Klein’s community solar research cited in BDN article
The Bangor Daily News cited research by Sharon Klein, an economics professor at the University of Maine, in an article on an Environment Maine Research and Policy Center news conference that was held on campus. The center recently released the report, “Lighting the way: The top states that helped drive America’s solar energy boom in 2014.” The research found that solar power capacity, per capita, rose 37 percent in Maine in 2014. That rate puts Maine 21st in the nation, well behind neighbors such as New Hampshire and Vermont, which finished third and fourth, respectively, in the country in terms of states that saw the most growth last year, according to the article. Klein studies the spread of community solar, which is built on multiple groups or individuals agreeing to invest, and then sharing energy produced by a solar array. Her research has found about 5,000 community solar arrangements across the nation, according to the article. WVII (Channel 7) also carried a report on the news conference.