Some idealistic people I once chatted with objected to very notion of indoor farming because it went against their romantic visions of "farming the land." Metropolis Farms of Philadelphia is actively rejecting this archaic notion with the world's first completely solar-powered indoor urban farm.

Located in Philadelphia, on the fourth floor of a large warehouse, Metropolis Farms wants to promote local food: "We are empowering a new generation of farmers to grow food for cities, in cities."

The new massive solar array contains 2,003 solar panels on 100,000 square feet, capturing enough sunlight to supply over half a megawatt of energy. Beneath those panels, Metropolis Farms is constructing an indoor vertical farm that's predicted to grow "the equivalent of 660 outdoor acres worth of crops."

Planting with the company's proprietary indoor farming system begins in November.

For more information, visit metropolisfarmsusa.com.