News > Meeting growing energy demand with solar

Meeting growing energy demand with solar

• Energy democracy & policy

August 29, 2025

• Abby Burnett

We need more energy than ever before

Maybe you’ve seen new factories or warehouses popping up in your area. Maybe you’ve been hearing about data centers coming to your town. These developments require huge amounts of electricity, which is why energy demand is growing faster than it has in decades. And in Indiana, where we’ve produced less power than we use since 2012, adding more generation to the grid is going to be absolutely necessary.

One way for Hoosiers to take control of their own energy production is to install solar on their rooftops. But fair policies are being ripped away from us at both the state and federal levels. Without fair policies for local solar like net metering (which was taken away by state legislators in 2017), or independent community solar programs, that option is out of reach for most Hoosiers.

Large solar farms can be part of the equation to meet growing energy demand. Not only is solar one of the cheapest and cleanest energy sources, it is also the fastest to add to the grid. Unfortunately, misinformation about solar often halts the process of adding clean energy to the grid, making our state less resilient and keeping aging, costly coal plants open longer. 

Using our land for energy production

Creating energy isn’t a new endeavor on Indiana farmland. In 2024, 43% of Indiana’s corn went to ethanol production. But, in terms of land-use efficiency, solar beats ethanol in multiple metrics. Most importantly, solar is 20 times more efficient than ethanol, even when accounting for useful byproducts such as animal feed. Harvesting solar energy rather than ethanol leads to less pollution from fertilizer runoff and less erosion from tillage while providing a new drought resistant revenue stream.

The loss of farmland should be taken seriously, but the reality is that solar is not the driving force of farmland loss. Between 2013 and 2021, only 5% of lost Indiana farmland was converted to energy production (which includes new wind, natural gas, biomass, and solar production), while 68% of lost agricultural land was developed into homes and neighborhoods. And solar, unlike housing developments, can be returned to agricultural land at the end of its useful life.

Solar farms create a harmonious solution

Adding solar does not have to stop agricultural production on farmland.  Agrivoltaics, the term for agriculture plus photovoltaics (solar energy technology), is a practice that can create efficient dual-use purposes for farmland. In Indiana, there are already a growing number of sheep herds, pollinator habitats, and crop studies under solar panels. 

In addition to being clean and inexpensive, solar is also safe wherever it is sited. Here are some of the key features of solar that protect us and our land: 

• Solar cells are protected by multiple layers of strong glass, aluminum, and other materials, which means that they do not leach any chemicals into the soil. 
• The panels themselves are built to last outdoors and rated to withstand most hail storms. 
• Additionally, advanced technologies mean that it’s no longer necessary to grade the land before installing solar panels, reducing the risk of compaction and dust pollution during construction. 
• Solar panels today are up to 95% recyclable, and there are a number of recycling plants in operation and coming to the industry now.

Indiana needs more power. Solar may not be the only solution for our energy needs, but it is a vital part of the solution. Every scale of deployment, including utility scale, should be seriously considered and supported with fair policies that benefit all Hoosiers.