With one of the largest floating PV arrays in the US, Ohio village takes lead on solar power

The village of Monroeville, Ohio, has switched on a 6-megawatt floating solar array built on its own reservoir, making it one of the five largest floating solar systems in the country and the largest in Ohio. Instead of using farmland, the panels sit on 12 acres of water the village already owned, avoiding the land-use fights that have led about a third of Ohio's counties to restrict utility-scale solar projects since a 2021 state law gave them that power.

This is Monroeville's second solar project, adding to a 4-megawatt ground-mounted array that's been running since 2017. With a population of just 1,300, the village now has roughly 13 times as much solar per resident as the rest of Ohio. The array was developed by D3Energy with Gardner Capital, which owns the system and sells the power back to the village, and built by Ohio contractor Appalachian Renewable Power.

For homeowners, this isn't a rebate or incentive program you can apply for — it's a village-owned utility project. But it shows a growing trend of using reservoirs, ponds, and other existing water bodies for solar instead of open land, an approach also used recently in Delaware and Lima, Ohio. If your area has open water owned by a utility or municipality, similar projects could eventually affect local power rates or availability, even though they don't involve any action on your own property.