Solar and farming in the same land area can retain functional use of farmland while adding emissions-free power generation.
In the United States, up to 83% of new solar development by 2040 is forecast to occur on farmland and ranchland, according to the American Farmland Trust. This highlights the need to build solar on rooftops, brownfields, and already-developed lands, while also presenting the opportunity for building agrivoltaics.
Agrivoltaics is the practice of designing solar facilities with raised profiles so that tractors or animals can pass under them, or placing gaps in between rows to allow for co-located agricultural production with solar production.
Studies from the University of Arizona show that agrivoltaics offers mutual benefits, particularly in sunny and arid climates, where the solar arrays provide shade for crops, and crops absorb heat and water, improving panel efficiency and durability.
Research by Oregon State University found that solar and agricultural co-location could provide 20% of the total electricity generation in the United States. Wide-scale installation of agrivoltaics could lead to an annual reduction of 330,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions while “minimally” impacting crop yield, the researchers said.
The paper found that an area about the size of Maryland would be needed if agrivoltaics were to meet 20% of U.S. electricity generation. That’s about 13,000 square miles, or 1% of current U.S. farmland. At a global scale, it is estimated that 1% of all farmland could produce the world’s energy needs if converted to solar PV.
Policy
The American Farmland Trust made policy recommendations to support more agrivoltaic buildout, which it said currently represents less than 5% of solar capacity installed in the U.S.
It first set out to create a clear definition of what qualifies as an agrivoltaic project, and recommended incentive structures for qualified projects. It recommended that agrivoltaics:
- Ensure farming can take place within solar arrays for their full life (30 to 40+ years) and beyond, and that there is value for the farm production component, not just the energy production.
- Protect and conserve soil and water resources.
- Develop agrivoltaic projects that contribute to the broader farm and ranch economy.
- Design to give farmers the flexibility to change productions systems or which agricultural products they produce in response to market demand.
The report further elaborates on a suggested formal definition for agrivoltaics in policy drafting, which can be found here.
The American Farmland Trust recommended that incentive structures for agrivoltaics are supported via community solar programs, utility-scale project solicitations, bid preferences, pilot programs, and feed-in tariffs. It also recommended creating reductions or forgiveness in farmland conversion and mitigation fees, property tax reductions or abatements, streamlined state and local permitting, and locally granted exceptions in land use laws.
Read more about the American Farmland Trust’s recommendations for local, state, and federal agrivoltaics policy here.
