Solar power in Indiana

US annual average solar energy received by a latitude tilt photovoltaic cell (modeled).

Solar power in Indiana has been growing in recent years due to new technological improvements and a variety of regulatory actions and financial incentives, particularly a 30% federal tax credit for any size project.[1]

In 2015, Indiana ranked 18th among U.S. states for installed solar power with 136 MW of photovoltaic panels.[2] An estimated 18% of electricity in Indiana could be provided by rooftop solar panels.[3]

In 2011, Indiana's largest solar installation was the six acre array located on the roof of the Maj. Gen. Emmett J. Bean Federal Center in Lawrence, Indiana, capable of generating a peak power of over 2 MW.[4] A 17.5MW plant built at the Indianapolis airport in 2013 was the largest airport solar farm in the U.S.[5] A 9MW solar farm was built at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2014.[6][7] The 3.2MW Rockville Solar II is the largest solar roof installation in the state.[8]

Government policy

The Government of Indiana has taken a variety of actions in order to encourage solar energy use within the state.

Net metering

The state has a net metering program that allows installations of up to 1 MW of on-site electrical generation to continuously roll over any excess generation to the next month. Participation is limited to 1% of utilities most recent peak summer demand.[9] Peak summer demand for the state for 2011 was 20,251 MW.[10]

Feed In Tariff

Indiana's Northern Indiana Public Service Company, NIPSCO, offers a feed-in tariff of $0.30/kWh for systems from 5 to 10 kW, and $0.26/kWh for systems from 10 kW to 2 MW.[11] Indianapolis Power & Light has a Renewable Energy Production program that pays $0.24/kWh for solar from 20 kW to 100 kW and $0.20/kWh for solar arrays of from 100 kW to 10 MW. Payments are for 15 years, participation is limited, and one third of the program, 45,900 MWh/year, will be made available through a reverse auction. No new applications will be accepted beyond March 2013.[12]

Indiana Solar Energy Working Group

The Indiana Office of Energy Development has created the Indiana Solar Energy Working Group to promote the development of solar energy, including local manufacturing.[13]

Installed capacity

Source: NREL[14]
Photovoltaics (MWp)[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]
Year Capacity Installed % Change
2009 0.3 0.3 >200%
2010 0.5 0.2 67%
2011 3.5 3.0 600%
2012 4.4 0.9 26%
2013 49.4 45.0 1022%
2014 112 59 111%
2015 136 24 21%

See also

References

  1. ↑ 30% No Limit Federal Tax Credit!
  2. ↑ Indiana Fact Sheet, Solar Energy Industries Association, accessed May 19, 2016
  3. ↑ Report Argues for a Decentralized System of Renewable Power Generation
  4. ↑ 6-acre solar energy project will be Indiana's biggest yet
  5. ↑ INDSolarFarm
  6. ↑ Indiana, SEIA
  7. ↑ 2 new solar farms being planned in Indiana, BloombergBusinessWeek,September 19, 2014
  8. ↑ REC Group powers largest commercial solar rooftop PV plant in Midwest United States
  9. ↑ "Indiana - Net Metering". Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  10. ↑ Indiana Electricity Projections pg. 1-7
  11. ↑ NIPSCO - Feed-In Tariff
  12. ↑ Indianapolis Power & Light - Rate REP
  13. ↑ Solar Energy
  14. ↑ "PV Watts". NREL. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  15. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (August 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2011" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  16. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (June 2011). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 20. Retrieved 2011-06-29.
  17. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2010). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2009" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 23. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  18. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  19. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  20. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2014-09-26.
  21. ↑ Indiana Solar
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