However, success will be dependent on regional policy and site planning guidelines that ensure the local communities’ needs and interests are prioritized. Solar energy generation can be installed at a rate five times faster than all other new electricity sources combined and remains the lowest cost solution to expanding energy supplies, even without government subsidies. A recent analysis by USA TODAY found that around 15% of counties in the US have some form of restriction on building new utility-scale solar energy projects. In rural areas, solar development occurring on prime farmland has had an outsized negative influence from the community perspective. Successful efforts to balance local community interests with solar development have the potential to pay off handsomely.