We Need Solar For All, But Indiana Doesn’t Currently Permit Independent Community Solar. For many Hoosiers, installing solar panels is out of reach. Hoosier families and businesses—including low-income families, underserved populations, renters, condo owners and those restricted by HOAs—need new options to have access to the benefits that solar energy provides.
With community solar, local solar facilities are shared by multiple subscribers who receive credits on their monthly electric bills for their share of power produced. These savings provide much needed relief for Hoosier households struggling with high bills.
Community solar facilities can be built anywhere:
- Brownfield sites (abandoned industrial sites and parking lots)
- Rooftops of warehouses and municipal buildings
- Unneeded parking lot space
- Sub-prime agricultural land
Community solar provides multiple benefits to all ratepayers:
- It lowers grid costs for all utility customers through avoided costs associated with energy generation, transmission, and distribution.
- It provides power when the grid needs it most—hot summer afternoons and evenings.
- It generates energy closer to customers, increasing the efficiency of the grid and reducing line losses.
- It improves grid resiliency during extreme weather events.
- It provides choices for customers.
- Independent community solar helps to avoid utility bill hikes. It uses private capital—not ratepayer dollars—to pay all of the costs associated with construction, interconnection, and operations and maintenance of the solar facility.