How solar power stations have transformed Chortkiv: research findings

Imagine two towns. In both, residents are equally supportive of solar energy. But in one town, this is simply a convenient answer to a survey. In the other, it is an experience the residents have personally gone through: having electricity during blackouts, a hospital powered by the sun, a reliable water supply, and so on

The second town is Chortkiv. We carried out research there and compared the results with data for Ukraine as a whole. The conclusion is simple yet important for any town considering the roll-out of renewable energy: the figures showing support may be the same everywhere, but the depth of that support is not.

A paradox every local leader should be aware of

Overall support for solar energy in Chortkiv stands at 85 per cent, compared with 88 per cent across Ukraine. At first glance, the 16 stations built over three years seem to have made no difference. But this is a misleading impression.

In Chortkiv, there are half as many ‘soft’ supporters who opt for the cautious ‘somewhat positive’ (32 per cent compared with 49 per cent across Ukraine), and significantly more who say ‘very positive’ (53 per cent compared with 39 per cent). In other words, people have not come to like the sun any more; they have simply stopped having any doubts.

This is also confirmed by a key indicator: support for wind power – which is not available in Chortkiv – is lower there than the national average.

The most compelling finding of the survey is that 74 per cent of Chortkiv residents, compared with 51 per cent of Ukrainians, believe that solar power stations ensure a stable supply to critical infrastructure, such as hospitals and water and sewerage services. The 23-percentage-point difference stems not from advertising, but from the residents’ actual experiences. Consequently, during the blackouts of 2022–2024, Chortkiv’s hospital continued to admit patients thanks to solar panels, and the water supply system remained operational.

This is the point at which investment in renewable energy ceases to be merely an environmental gesture and becomes a matter of trust in the local authorities, whose approval rating is 10 percentage points higher than the Ukrainian average — and this is the only institution where the difference is so marked. People associate a specific outcome with the specific authorities responsible for it.

The secret lies not in the panels, but in how they are talked about

The most important lesson for those planning similar projects in their own towns is that Chortkiv did not start with a large-scale campaign, but with a single installation, fitting 56 panels for the hospital in 2022. But from the very start, the town communicated about it systematically and consistently: every month, in hryvnias and kilowatt-hours, without fanfare and using the language of figures.

The logic behind the communication is simple and can be replicated in any community: the station became operational → the facility received electricity → residents received a service → the budget saved money → the community became more resilient. The shorter and clearer this chain is, the less room there is for doubt and populism.

It is telling that Chortkiv’s communication is almost always linked to facilities that enjoy the highest level of public trust — hospitals, the water utility, and the rehabilitation centre. After all, it is far harder to criticise ‘solar power for the hospital’ than an abstract ‘green transition’.

What does this mean for other local authorities and businesses?

The main conclusion of the study is this: there is no need to wait until there are many stations before starting to talk about results. Trust is built from the very first installation, provided it is communicated regularly and in terms of outcomes rather than technology.

For city leaders and residents’ associations, this means that investing in communication around renewable energy pays off just as much as investing in the panels themselves. For the energy sector, the ‘reliability’ argument sells better than the ‘environmental’ argument when addressing people who have experienced power cuts.

Chortkiv is not unique in that it installed the stations earlier than others. It is unique in that it has turned every station into a communication campaign for its town and has been doing so for the fifth year running.

The full study, including the methodology, interviews with stakeholders and an analysis of Chortkiv’s communication model, is available on request from Power of Place.