Solar Energy

“That project was relying in part on a financial structure that would have taken advantage of the federal Investment Tax Credit, which provided a 30-percent reduction in cost,” Assistant City Attorney Don Shuler told the city's board of public works and safety last week.

Solar advocates said the Indiana legislature is helping utilities eliminate their competition by making independent solar less affordable. That was the message at this year’s Renewable Energy Day at the Statehouse.

After blocking it last year, the Elkhart County Commissioners approved a zoning change and economic development agreement for a proposed $120 million solar farm Monday.

An 1,100-acre solar project in western St. Joseph County — known as “Project Honeysuckle” — is once again moving forward.

The agreement gives developer Lightsource BP a property tax break while also potentially generating millions of dollars in new tax revenue.

Indianapolis Public Schools is set to have the largest school solar project in the state. Last week district officials approved an agreement with a Carmel-based nonprofit to install solar panels at 20 school buildings.

Solar panels made by formerly incarcerated people in South Bend will soon be available across the country.

The Elkhart County Commissioners amended the county zoning ordinance Monday to include guidelines for large solar projects.

The Douglass School, named after abolitionist Fredrick Douglass, opened during segregation and eventually merged with an all-white school in the 1950s before closing in 1968.