Over the past decade, the proliferation of warehouses has grown over Lehigh Valley farmland.
But they could soon make way for a new sight: Industrial solar farms.
"It's a concern that there are parts of the state where municipalities aren't ready to answer the question, what are the rules for these new projects?" said associate professor at Penn State Dickinson Law Mohamed Badissy.
In Pennsylvania, local governments have zoning control, and Badissy says 95% of the state's municipalities have no ordinances for large-scale solar.
He, along with the Marcellus Center Outreach and Research, are holding industrial solar farm zoning how-to's across the state. Tuesday they visited Penn State Lehigh Valley for 27 local municipalities.
"Sometimes, communities are worried about the change to view. Sometimes, they are worried about the road traffic, the noise, the glare," Badissy said of issues non-prepared communities have had.
Badissy says upwards of 30% of new industrial solar farms will happen in rural areas.
"Communities should be thinking ahead of where they do want it and how they want to regulate it, so they don't have it in a surprise location they don't want," said Charlie Schmehl.
Schmehl is a Bethlehem-based community planner, who works with municipalities across the Valley.
"Do you expect a lot of these applications to start coming through? "I asked.
"It's a little less common because our land is expensive but South Central PA is seeing a great deal of these projects 8-900 acres at a time," he said.
Seeing the future and preparing for it, which could include rules for placing solar panels on the roofs of warehouses. Badissy says it's already being done in California.
