For years, officials with the Monroe County Solid Waste Management District in south central Indiana have wondered about the possibility of converting local brownfields into sites for generating solar energy, particularly the 57-acre closed landfill just north of Bloomington.
“We knew the site had potential,” said Tom McGlasson, the solid waste district’s executive director. “What we didn’t know was where to begin or even who to ask.”
McGlasson and his staff weren’t alone. Closed landfills can be found in nearly every county in the state. The sites must be monitored and are limited in how they can be repurposed. Because of this, placing solar panels on top of closed landfills can be an ideal way to turn a long-term liability into a clean energy asset. Only a handful of Indiana landfills have made the leap to date, however.
As Monroe and other Indiana counties have found, converting a brownfield into a “brightfield” isn’t a simple process. It requires site feasibility testing, permitting, financing, engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance—all things that don’t typically fall within the scope of county operations. A successful project involves technical experts, regulatory agencies, utility companies, contractors, and others to ensure the site meets safety and operational standards for transmitting electricity to the grid.
“Every time we thought we understood one part of the process, we’d uncover three more questions,” McGlasson said.
In 2025, McGlasson and his team finally started finding more answers than questions. Alongside other Indiana local government staff, he attended a virtual meeting organized by Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI). The meeting brought together technical experts and state agencies, including the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Kansas State University’s Technical Assistance to Brownfields (KSU TAB), the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), and the Indiana Brownfields Program.
With all the relevant players in one place, McGlasson said he could feel the informational roadblocks melt away. “All the people we needed were finally talking to each other,” he said.
Catalyzing clarity
Helping Indiana communities make informed decisions on projects that reduce energy costs and boost resilience is one way ERI is fostering a more sustainable future for the state.
After hearing local government staff from multiple Indiana counties inquire about landfill solar, ERI Assistant Director for Strategy and Engagement Bill Brown recognized an opportunity to connect Hoosier communities with experts and resources.
“For projects as complicated as converting a brownfield to a solar site, giving Indiana local government staff the opportunity to hear from national-, regional-, and state-level stakeholders seemed like a great way to get them the answers they need to move forward,” Brown said.
The initial meeting attended by McGlasson led to a webinar series tailored for Indiana local governments interested in landfill-to-solar conversions. The three-part series covered key considerations before embarking on such a project, with discussions spanning solar engineering on capped landfills, environmental and legal constraints, developer engagement, and federal incentives and financing. Attendees had the opportunity to ask site-specific questions and participants were eligible to receive one-on-one technical assistance.
“It gave us clarity,” McGlasson said. “For the first time, we could see what the steps actually looked like.”
With a key deadline to qualify for federal tax incentives looming, McGlasson’s newfound connections helped his staff identify how much landfill acreage at the Monroe County site was suitable for solar development as well as how much energy the project would generate. His team also held conversations with utility representatives and potential customers interested in buying energy produced at the site.
Ultimately, the district found the cost and maintenance of a landfill-to-solar conversion to be too high for the district to pursue at this time. In the process, however, district staff found the long-sought answers they needed to make an informed decision.
“ERI didn’t hand us a project,” McGlasson said. “They handed us the network that makes a project possible. That’s what communities like ours really need.”
Empowering clean energy decisions
As a result of ERI’s “Brownfields to Brightfields” collaboration, Indiana communities are better positioned to identify and act on promising landfill solar sites. To highlight the potential, RMI published a map highlighting dozens of closed landfills in the state that are ripe for repurposing.
“If every landfill on the map were developed for solar energy, RMI estimates it could generate around 1,700 megawatts—enough electricity to power 280,000 homes,” said Brown. “This is a resource Hoosier communities didn’t have until now.”
The collaboration and webinar series also sparked a new method for engaging local governments that regional and national partners like RMI and KSU TAB are keen to introduce elsewhere.
“We hope that this will be a model for other states that seek to help their communities reactivate their brownfields and closed landfills to meet their energy needs and generate local electricity,” said RMI Senior Associate Tansy Massey-Green.
About the Environmental Resilience Institute
Indiana University's Environmental Resilience Institute bridges academia, applied research, and community resilience to deliver the science-informed, equity-centered solutions needed to flourish in a changing climate. Through community partnerships, transformative research, and immersive learning, ERI is creating a more sustainable and prosperous future. Learn more at eri.iu.edu.
