Knox County leaders look to address Solar Energy concern

KNOX COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) — Knox County commissioners are working to provide facts regarding the future of solar energy development in the area.

The Knox County Commissioners hosted an informational meeting Wednesday night, inviting industry experts to address the logistics of solar panel installations and answer questions from concerned residents.

Dr. Chris Ollson, an environmental health scientist who spoke at the meeting, stressed the importance of holding these open dialogues.

“The public has a right to be concerned,” Ollson said. “So that’s why you have to have sessions like this so you can bring factual information, have that dialogue with people, try and alleviate some of those concerns and let them know what the actual facts are.”

One of the most frequent concerns brought forward by residents is how the sound generated by solar sites and battery storage might affect neighboring properties. Ollson explained that Knox County’s regulations are already designed to protect local homeowners from noise issues.

“People hear or often think that it is going to be very loud and it’s gonna be very intrusive. They get thoughts that it’s going to be in their property,” Ollson said. “Whereas the county—for example, Knox County—has a very stringent sound limit that they have to meet at the property line of both the solar or battery storage project.”

Meeting these sound limits ensures that noise levels remain low enough for nearby residents to get a good night’s sleep and avoid any adverse health effects.

T.J. Brink, President of the Knox County Commissioners, said the primary objective of Wednesday’s meeting was to steer the conversation back to industry realities and away from online rumors.

“There is a lot of misinformation that is being produced out on Facebook and other social media posts, and we wanted to bring it back and actually talk about the facts as they are known in the industry,” Brink said.

Brink also clarified that Knox County’s solar rules are still a work in progress.

“We’ve looked at several different ordinances. We’ve looked at all kinds of different things,” Brink said. “That ordinance is actually being written right now and we should have that back sometime in the next few weeks.”

Knox County officials will continue revising the solar ordinance as local projects move forward.