Landowners who embrace solar agree soil needs time to rest, alternative revenue sources needed

Farmland is a familiar sight along highways in Indiana and across the Midwest.

But the scenery is changing. In some areas once filled with corn, soybeans and other vegetation, there now are solar panels, among other renewable energy equipment.

But the choice usually is not one or the other.

Agrivoltaics is an emerging agricultural practice that allows farmers to use their land for both agriculture and solar power generation. They can essentially harvest the sun twice. The practice can bring financial benefits and rejuvenate the land.

John Wikman, of Helios Farms in Monterey, is a third-generation landowner. His family has farmed the land in Pulaski County for almost a century.

“Agrivoltaics allows us to farm beneath and between solar panels, creating an environment where biologically diverse flora and fauna can flourish,” he said. “This practice revitalizes the land, making it more productive and resilient for future generations.”

And while there are benefits to the practice, critics oppose the aesthetics of these projects.

But Wikman said landowners should decide how their properties are used.

“This decision is also about something deeper: landowner rights,” he said. “For nearly a century, our family has owned this farm outright, and that ownership has always come with the freedom to make the choices we believe are best for our land and our family.”

Wikman is partnering with Philadelphia-based Doral Renewables to bring solar to his property.

“We’re still in the development phase, waiting for all the approvals to proceed with the project,” he said. “We’ve been fighting an uphill political battle to even be allowed permission to use our land the way we want to.”

He said the project is important for his farm’s future.

“This is our choice to secure a sustainable future for our land while ensuring our farm stays in the family for my daughter and, someday, her children,” he said. “It’s a choice that aligns with our values as stewards of this land and as innovators committed to progress.”

Solar projections

There are a variety of reasons why agricultural properties are well-suited for solar projects.

Conor Mills, technical sales consultant at Michigan-based Harvest Solar, said open space is a necessity for the installation of panels so they can receive sufficient sunlight. Farmers typically have the land needed for ground-mounted solar panels.

“It makes sense to put them there,” Mills said.

He said there are also a variety of reasons owners of farmland could decide to pursue a solar project for their properties. One of them is to offset the energy costs of operating a farm.

“A lot of these farmers actually use quite a bit of energy,” Mills said. “I was surprised.”

He said Harvest Solar has been involved with projects in Michigan, where solar arrays have helped reduce energy costs for turkey farmers. He said these types of farms run large industrial fans where animals are housed.

“Usually, you have multiple buildings on multiple sites, so it could make a lot of sense for someone like that,” Mills said.

He said Harvest Solar is working on another project in Michigan for a blueberry farmer. Mills said compressing blueberries for use in a variety of products requires a lot of energy.

For farmers who have purchased solar panels to offset their energy costs, the Rural Energy for America Program grant has been instrumental.

“(We have) seen a lot of growth in solar over the last couple of years just through that grant alone,” Mills said.

For those who qualify, the grant can pay about half of the cost of the project, increasing the rate of the return on investment.

When combining the REAP grant with other tax incentives, “financially, it can make a lot of sense for farmers to pursue” solar panels, Mills said.

Leasing the land

Another way farmers are using their land for solar projects is by leasing property to energy companies. The companies will pay for and install solar arrays that will generate power the companies sell to electrical utilities.

Depending on the contracts, the land leases can run for about 15 to 25 years, Mills said.

The company has some projects in Indiana, and it is looking to do more in the Hoosier state.

“We’re just now expanding into the Region,” said Mills, who is the first sales representative for Indiana.

Indiana ranks 21st in the U.S. for solar farm development, according to LandGate, an organization that helps landowners decide whether solar leasing is right for their farms.

Although Harvest Solar is just getting started in the Hoosier state, there are many other projects in various stages here.

After years of planning, the Mammoth North Solar project in Starke County began operations in October.

The development, which is operated by Doral Renewables, generates 400 megawatts of energy. That’s enough energy to power around 75,000 homes. It’s the first phase of a project that could ultimately produce 1.3 gigawatts of energy.

“We’re very excited, here at Doral, to bring this project to the community to provide not only clean, renewable energy for the grid and for the nation, but to also provide sound economic development for Starke County and the local community,” said Kevin Parzyck, senior vice president of special projects at Doral Renewables.

The Mammoth North project includes more than 65 families who lease their land to Doral. Billy Bope, a second-generation farmer, is among them.

Bope said the development offers dual-use opportunities for farmers, which is one of the reasons his family accepted solar fields on their property.

Through the dual-use method, the Bope family can continue to farm on the land while other areas of it are used for solar panels.

He said his father started the farm in 1958, and he was born and raised there. Bope and his siblings will eventually split the farmland into three parcels when they inherit it.

“None large enough to maintain any one family,” he said.

Through the land lease, it provides financial resources that will keep the families on the farm.

“It may give us four generations to stay on the Bope farm,” he said.

Land leases aren’t the only way farmers are benefiting from the project.

Doral Renewables uses a natural approach to maintain vegetation on properties by contracting with local farmers to have sheep, donkeys, alpacas and pigs graze the areas around the panels. It provides another revenue stream for farmers and offers a clean method to clear the vegetation around the solar arrays.

Project feasibility

While the Mammoth North project is already operational, other projects are in the pipeline.

Hexagon Energy, based in Virginia, is pursuing the Dumont Solar development in St. Joseph County.

J. Scott Remer, senior director of development at Hexagon Energy, said the proposal is for a 300-megawatt solar array that can produce enough power for about 50,000 homes.

“So, it’s a lot of power that we’re talking about being able to produce here,” Remer said. “Clean solar power generated and pumped directly on to the grid.”

Remer said the Dumont electrical substation that this project is located near is one of the largest substations in the country.

“That was the main driving factor for why we even began looking at a solar project in this location because of the easy access to the power grid,” he said. “That’s one of the biggest challenges facing the entire energy sector right now is being able to connect power sources to the grid in places the grid has capacity, and that power can then be used regionally, locally and even within the whole backbone area.”

He said the process started in 2020 with Hexagon reaching out to farmers to see whether they would be interested in leasing their property for the development. After many conversations, Hexagon had enough to sign up to make the project feasible.

“We felt really good about the project, and we still do,” Remer said. “We’re really excited about it.”

St. Joseph County officials at the time made statements encouraging the use of large solar projects in the area. After some residents became aware of the proposed development, there was some opposition from the neighbors. That was followed by county officials changing rules for solar projects by requiring special-use permits before they could be installed.

“Because our project was so far down the development pipeline, we submitted a building permit that grandfathered the project in its current state into the existing zoning bylaws that were previously in place,” Remer said.

Remer said there is still work to be done before construction can begin on the solar panels, including authorization to connect to the electrical utility. That authorization could be in place as early as 2026.

“We’re still a little ways away from beginning any sort of construction, but the project is continuing to move ahead, and we’re very excited about it,” Remer said.

As planning continues, Hexagon continues to engage the community about it.

“Our farmers and the folks we’re working with are very excited,” Remer said. “They stand to make reliable and large amounts of revenue from a project like this.”

Community support

The town of Merrillville is no stranger to solar panels in the community.

In 2012, the town authorized a 6,800 solar panel farm on agricultural property in the 8500 block of Grand Boulevard. Lincoln Solar erected the array. The company at the time established a 15-year agreement with NIPSCO to sell power to the utility.

More recently, Lightsource bp in 2023 proposed solar farms on multiple properties in town. The initial proposal called for panels in three areas. They include industrial properties on Colorado and Clay streets as well as an agricultural property near 97th Avenue and Grand Boulevard.

The Town Council approved a variance allowing the solar projects to advance on the industrial zoned properties. Lightsource withdrew the plans to install panels on the agricultural land after opposition from residents in that area.

Merrillville Town Councilman Shawn Pettit said the opposition from residents carried much weight in the matter, and he wouldn’t have supported solar panels on the agricultural property if it wasn’t withdrawn.

“These (the residents) are my bosses that are there now, that live here now, so that’s kind of the approach that I take on any project,” Pettit said.

Although construction hasn’t yet started for solar panels on the Colorado and Clay street properties, Lightsource continues to pursue that development and continues to work with town officials on that endeavor.

With many solar projects under development, public information is key to the communities understanding them.

For the Hexagon project in St. Joseph County, some misinformation was being spread about solar panels, Remer said.

As the company has educated the public, concerns about the project have diminished, he said.

Companies look to provide information about solar panels through outreach and media coverage.

Anne-Marie Williams, director of community relations for Geenex, said her job is to have tough conversations and answer tough questions.

“Community engagement is built on trust and a shared vision,” she said. “My job isn’t to convince people; it is to be always willing to have the conversation and provide the facts.”

The solar company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has a regional office in Indianapolis.

For those who ultimately decide against solar, they still just want to be heard, she said.

“This is new,” Williams said. “Anything new takes time to learn about it.”

Hoosier Solar is another company that took the time to engage the Starke County community with conversations about the positives of solar. They now have 16 landowners and 21 of their neighbors on board for 2,500 acres for solar farms northeast of Knox. The project will be able to power 53,000 homes nearby.

“Our Starke County projects will generate positive economic impact that will benefit the entire county and will deliver clean, American-made energy into Indiana’s rapidly expanding grid,” said Hoosier Solar CEO Steven Lichtin in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to act as good neighbors and are grateful for the support our projects have received from residents and county officials.”

Remer said another way to reach new clients is to start by introducing the company through letters and then meet individually with residents.

Through conversations, some residents explained they don’t like the appearance of solar fields. In those situations, Hexagon has discussed ways that they could screen the property, so it’s not as easily seen.

Some residents have also said they believe solar fields can damage properties, making them unusable for farming in the future.

“This doesn’t actually sterilize the ground,” Remer said. “What this ends up doing, it gives the ground a break from all the industrial fertilizer and chemicals and pesticides that have been sprayed on these crops that are being produced. Instead, the ground around these panels really does get a chance to rest and have deep rooted native grasses do their thing for several decades and end up rejuvenating the soil. It really does end up helping.”

If solar panels sterilized the ground or harmed others, Remer said he would take a different position about them.

“If it were true, I’d be out there fighting it too,” Remer said, “but I’m glad to say it’s not true.”

Farmer Wikman is a believer too.

“Today, our family continues to embrace innovative approaches to farming that honor the health of our soil and the sustainability of our community,” he said.

“For our family, this project is about more than just clean energy, it’s about leaving the land better than we found it.” •

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