Indianapolis Among Leading Solar Cities in New Report

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Environment America

Indianapolis – The City of Indianapolis ranks fourth for its amount of solar energy per capita in a new report, landing it among the nation’s leaders for installing clean energy from the sun.

“Cities like Indianapolis are leading the way to a future powered by clean, renewable energy,” said Bret Fanshaw, Solar Program Director with Environment America. “By tapping into more of our vast solar energy potential, we can benefit from cleaner air and fight climate change.”

Indianapolis ranks ahead of Burlington, Vermont, and just behind San Jose, California, for megawatts of solar energy per capita as of year-end 2017. The report also ranks Indianapolis first in the North Central region for solar per capita and eighth in total amount of solar installed nationally. The city has one of the world’s largest airport-based solar installations at Indianapolis International Airport.

The report, Shining Cities 2018: How Smart Local Policies Are Expanding Solar Power in America, shows that the top 20 solar cities, comprising just 0.1 percent of the country’s land mass, account for 4 percent of U.S. solar capacity.

“We are in a moment when progress on renewable energy will come from cities across the country,” said Fanshaw. “More local leaders should step up and start plugging their communities into the clean and virtually limitless power of the sun.”

While Indianapolis has made significant progress on installing solar energy, recent decisions by Indiana state lawmakers to phase out rooftop solar programs could present obstacles for consumers to obtain solar in the future.

Shining Cities is the fifth annual report from Environment America Research & Policy Center. Each year, the survey ranks nearly 70 of the nation’s major cities by megawatts of solar energy.