Federal money, improving efficiency pushing solar energy in Montana

As recently as a decade ago, a common public perception of solar energy was that it was inefficient, unreliable and expensive. To actively generate electricity using photovoltaic panels on your roof or from a ground-mounted array was something that might appeal to environmentalists or homeowners in the desert southwest but made little sense on the high plains of Montana, where the pale winter sun can remain obscured by clouds for weeks at a time.

A growing number of Montanans are taking another look at solar, and not just because it’s a renewable energy source that can make you feel good about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Modern solar panels are twice as efficient and about one-quarter the price of what they were just 15 years ago.

David Murray