While the popularity of solar energy continues to grow in communities across the nation, many industry experts are coming to the conclusion that the best way for solar — and solar companies — to grow is to take a regional approach. Their reasoning is rather simple: Installation of solar panels is best left to local companies who can better serve the needs of their customers.

Explore Buffalo invites you to visit Knox Farm State Park, 437 Buffalo Road, East Aurora, from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 13, to learn the history of the Knox family’s farm and summer home! The Friends of Knox Farm will open the farm’s buildings, which are seldom open to the public, and Explore Buffalo docents will be inside each building providing a tour and the stories associated with each site. Tour the main houses, the polo stables where the ponies were kept, sheep barns, gardener’s cottage and many other historical buildings.

As the desire for solar energy continues to grow both locally and across the nation, we’re seeing rooftop solar units with much greater frequency and in practically every neighborhood. And if you look a little closer, you’ll also see pole-mounted solar panels popping up in back yards and open fields in both rural and urban communities.

But thanks to Buffalo Solar Solutions Inc., solar energy in Western New York just entered a whole new world, one that combines solar panels, architecture and ingenuity to introduce a new option for homeowners that is as artistically eye-opening as it is energy efficient.

What is believed to be Western New York’s first solar pergola was recently constructed for a Lancaster homeowner, and the end result is sure to generate excitement for those seeking a clean energy option that adds to the overall beauty of their home and landscaping.