Wayne Eash finds himself doing as many solar power installations per month now as he did in a whole year when he first started.
Eash is president of Photon Electric of Millersburg, which formed in 2014 with the merger of two other companies – though his experience goes back about 10 years. He said the company installs 12 to 15 solar power systems a month, which is as many as he used to do in a year when he started "from scratch."
"In the first five years ... we had a 10-time increase in sales, then three-times and two-times," he said, attributing the growth largely to the spread of positive word-of-mouth. "Right now it's not doubling, but I'd say we have a 50 percent increase in sales every year."
He also added about 12 employees in the last four years, who are now among the 2,700 people statewide whose jobs are directly tied to solar power. The state saw a 72 percent increase between 2015 and 2016 alone, adding about 1,130 solar industry workers, according to the advocacy group The Solar Foundation.
That puts Indiana at 28th in the nation for solar jobs and 30th for solar jobs per capita. It's a higher rate of growth in that time than Illinois, Ohio and Michigan, though Indiana's total number of solar jobs remains lower.
'NOTHING BEATS SOLAR'
The industry's growth comes even as the Indiana Legislature moves to cut utility credits for wind and solar power. Senate Bill 309, awaiting a decision by Gov. Eric Holcomb, would revamp the state's net metering policy, lowering by 75 percent the rate customers are paid for pumping excess power generated by their solar devices into the grid.
Brian Burkholder, president of Solar Energy Systems in Nappanee, another solar power installer, has been to Indianapolis to speak against the bill. He said it would not only discourage the adoption of solar power by lengthening the amount of time it takes to recoup the initial purchase price, it could also raise food prices by hurting farmers who grow using solar.