Indiana to be Home to the Largest U.S. Solar Farm

This will be the last year that Norm Welker and his family harvests corn. But Welker will still be a farmer — he’s going to farm the sun. 

“We’ve always harnessed the sun and had enough sun to grow a corn crop,” said 62-year-old Welker. “But now, we are harvesting it far more efficiently than we’ve ever done before.” 

Welker is not alone. He is one of dozens of neighbors who are leasing their land for what will be the largest solar farm in the United States. At 13,000 acres — roughly 1,000 times the size of Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Indianapolis Colts) — it is aptly named the Mammoth Solar Midwest project. This $1 billion, privately funded project, will generate up to 1,000 megawatts (a gigawatt) of clean, renewable electric power. It’s enough to serve 117,000 midwestern households annually.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

Impressive indeed. Obviously, this is a big decision for those involved who will sacrifice their farm’s ability to produce crops in favor of solar energy production. Only time will tell if this is a trend that will catch on and entice others to follow suit. Nevertheless, this move will provide a steady income that provides cashflow twelve months per year. But, rest assured, the farmers will still need trucks to monitor their operations and offset some of that income.