CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — As electricity costs continue to rise, more and more homeowners and businesses are turning to a different type of energy source: solar.

The energy source continues to make its way into Centre County. Whether it’s small township farms or adding new technology to municipal-owned buildings, the interest in solar is growing.

“It scales from one solar panel that can be put on a shed or a chicken coop, all the way up to a large-scale utility solar installation and everything in between,” Leo Kowalski, Director of Programming at Pennsylvania Solar Center said.

On Thursday, Sept. 14, Centre County community members were able to learn more about how they can implement solar in their lives through GET Solar Centre Region’s partnership with the PA Solar Center.

“Traditional energy structures have been pretty inequitable in their impacts in their benefits,” Kowalski said. “So, that presents an opportunity to continue that narrative here, specifically in Pennsylvania where we have fallen pretty significantly behind our neighboring states.”

A PennEnvironment report found Pennsylvania ranks 46th in the U.S. for percent growth in solar power generation since 2012.

“When you think about what’s happening in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, even Maryland, they’ve really moved their renewable energy aspirations much further than us,” Kowalski said.

GET Solar Centre Region is hosting informational sessions for community members and stakeholders to learn about solar tax credits, grant programs and success stories. The University Mennonite Church building is just one of those stories. Their shift to solar is expected to save them close to $100,000 in energy costs over the next 25 years.

“This is just a process for us to help you go solar start to finish,” Kowalski said. “We go from basic feasibility, very high-level analysis starting at zero.”

If you missed out on the first meeting, there are two more you can attend. Those are happening on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20 starting at 12 p.m. You can register to attend here.