INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA — On farmlands near South Bend, Indiana, work has already started on what will be the largest solar farm ever built in the U.S. Here are the details: The Associated Press reports that Northern Indiana will become the home of America’s largest solar farm.
Dubbed Mammoth Solar, the project will cover around 13,000 acres, or 5,261 hectares, which is about the size of 9,850 American football fields.
Work has already started on the site, which straddles the border between Starke and Pulaski counties, 80 kilometers southwest of the city of South Bend.
The farm will eventually have a total of 2.85 million solar panels, and is expected to be fully operational by 2024.
At that point it will generate a total of 1.65 gigawatts of electricity — enough to power 250,000 homes.
Most of the power will be used by the homes and businesses around the project.
Whatever isn’t used will continue to travel farther along the lines until it’s consumed.
With the UN's latest alarming report on climate change, more and more large renewable infrastructure projects are likely to be greenlit, meaning the title of the world's largest solar farm will likely change hands several times in the coming years.
Organizers say the construction project will create 500 jobs, and the finished, fully operational solar farm will create at least 50 new, full-time jobs.