Bremen lets the sunshine in with new solar park

 

BREMEN, Ind.-- Thursday was the official ribbon cutting for the Bremen Solar Park, which will provide renewable electricity locally. 

Bremen 5th graders got to participate in the ribbon cutting. This is clean, fossil-fuel free energy, and leaders say it’s time to let the sunshine in.

The solar panel farm is capable of powering over 1,200 average households.

The project is nearly a decade in the making, project leaders say, costing over $10 million, and it includes a 10-year tax abatement from the Town of Bremen.

The Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA), a not-for-profit wholesale power provider, partnered with the Town of Bremen on the 32-acre farm of solar panels. 

All 20,852 solar panels can provide an output of 6.7 megawatts of power on a sunny day. Forty-five power inverters convert the energy for our everyday electricity needs. 

"From the very first day that I was here, IMPA was asking us to find land to build a solar park," said Trend Weldy, Director of Operations for the Town of Bremen. "And 9 years 11 months later, here we are. We’ve got a solar park built. It’s great to see; it’s great to have it in our community. Everybody knows that green energy is a thing that we have to have some of in today’s businesses and all that stuff."

But things are not bright for everyone. ABC57 spoke with neighbors directly across the street from this solar park. 

They said they’re all about green energy, but they’re not exactly thrilled about the green energy built right across the street, saying it’s an eyesore on previously beautiful farmland. 

Right now, IMPA’s renewable output is about 8%, but every watt of energy coming out of this plant adds to that number.