Bellflower Solar
173MW of renewable energy near Indianapolis
173MWᴅᴄ
/152.5MWᴀᴄ of home-grown renewable energy
31,200 homes
powered with renewable energy (equivalent)
$30 million
in property taxes in Rush and Henry Counties over its lifetime, benefiting local schools and other community public services.
$169 million
private investment in energy infrastructure for Indiana's energy security and independence
Site Selection & Preliminary Design
Stakeholder outreach
Permitting & environmental studies
Land management & biodiversity planning
Final engineering, financing & construction
Operation & maintenance
Decommissioning & recycling
The 173MW Bellflower solar farm, located about 40 miles east of Indianapolis in Indiana’s Rush and Henry Counties, entered full commercial operations in early 2023.
Lightsource bp developed and financed the solar farm with $169 million of private capital, and will continue to operate Bellflower Solar. Under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA), Verizon Communications will benefit from the renewable energy of the project as part of the company’s goal of reaching carbon neutrality in its operations (scope 1 and 2) by 2035.
Home grown renewable energy projects like Bellflower also help strengthen local rural economies. The Bellflower Solar project:
- Will have an annual operations budget of $2.4 million, primarily spent in the region.
- Created hundreds of US jobs across the supply chain. More than 350 people worked on-site during peak construction to build the facility.
Sheep grazing under and around the solar panels at Bellflower. Solar grazing is a form of agrivoltaics.
A bee buzzing around a flower at the Bellflower solar farm.
The Bellflower solar farm brings many environmental benefits to Indiana:
- Lightsource bp planted 800 acres of land under and around the solar panels with vegetation that includes native species beneficial to pollinators and other wildlife, which will be conserved for decades.
- An additional 10 acres has been dedicated to lush pollinator gardens with more than 60 different types of flowering plants.
- The solar farm is participating in a research study which will measure the ecological benefits of pollinator habitat at utility-scale solar. The research team consists of the University of Illinois Chicago, the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, the Argonne National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
- Land under and around the solar panels is also being kept in agricultural production. A local commercial beekeeper is managing hives and will produce solar farm honey, while another local Indiana farmer is grazing sheep to help maintain the vegetation.
Explore our virtual tour of Bellflower Solar
Information and resources
We’ve put together a collection of resources for anyone who’d like to know more about our Bellflower solar project – or about solar in general
Solar farm FAQs
We’ve put together a list of the most commonly asked questions, and their answers
Stories
Find out more about our Responsible Solar approach
Researching the benefits of pollinator conservation at Bellflower Solar
Habitat enhancement in Indiana
Get in touch
We have a dedicated Community Relations team that’s here to answer your questions and ensure that Lightsource bp is an active member in your community. To connect with a Community Relations Manager please email USCommunityRelations@lightsourcebp.com or fill out the form below.
If you are a member of the media, please visit our Press Center.
Complaint Filing Procedure
Complaints can be submitted through the following means:
- US Community Relations email address: uscommunityrelations@lightsourcebp.com
- Lightsource bp office phone number: 1 (415) 523-0200
- US Mail: Bellflower Solar, 400 Montgomery Street, 8th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104
Complaint Review Process
Our designated staff will contact the complainant within five (5) business days of receiving a complaint. During this call or email, we will confirm the issue, identify the relevant site, and establish the best way to stay in touch. We will also provide a specific timeframe for follow-up.
All complaints are logged in our stakeholder management platform to track progress and resolution time. A subject matter expert (SME) will work on finding a resolution and provide updates as needed.
We are committed to resolving complaints as quickly as possible and will provide regular updates. In some cases, unexpected delays may occur, or a complaint may be deemed unresolvable. If this happens, we will inform the complainant and explain the situation.
