Agrivoltaics, or using land for both farming and solar energy generation, is becoming more popular in the United States. Such dual-use practices are a ‘middle ground’ between critics who argue too much prime farmland is being used for utility-scale solar projects and proponents, who point out significantly more real estate is dedicated to ethanol production.
In many situations, it’s an attractive proposition for land owners to lease a chunk of their property to a developer for 20-30 years, at which point, the plot is restored to its original state and can resume crop production. Each agrivoltaics project is a custom fit, requiring community engagement from the first planning stages. Accordingly, developers of dual-use projects must become fast friends with farmers, creating a symbiotic relationship that ensures each endeavor ends up a win-win.
However, rapidly degrading solar federal policy is making everything a lot tougher, creating project overruns, tax credit uncertainty, and rushed development that ultimately hurts everyone involved.
“To do agrivoltaics well, you need the time and the design space to be able to make sure that you treat the land well during construction, that you do good designs, and that you have thoughtful accommodations,” explains Jesse Robertson-Dubois, Director of Sustainable Solar Development at BlueWave Energy. “They don’t necessarily need to be more expensive, but they need to be thoughtful and well-designed. And the best, fastest way to not do good design and not do good construction practices is to accelerate the whole process.”
“The projects that are going to be hurt the most by these cutbacks are the ones that are trying to do the best work by putting more time into design, by putting more time into their construction timelines, by being willing to spend a little more money, burying the cabling rather than using an above-ground cabling system. These are all the things that don’t necessarily cost more, but do take time and effort that is going to be cut out of the system if we have these rollbacks, and that’s the thing that gives me the most fear. We’re just starting to make some real progress with agrivoltaics, and this is going to make agrivoltaics much, much harder to do.”
On this episode of the Factor This podcast, host Paul Gerke is joined by three foremost agrivoltaics experts to share stories, discuss best practices, and pontificate on perfecting policy. Topics include establishing dual-use markets, detailing new pilots and innovations, recalling memorable interactions with landowners, and more.
On This Episode
Ethan Winter, National Smart Solar Director, American Farmland Trust
Ed Baptista, VP of Development and Agrivoltaics, Doral Renewables
Jesse Robertson-Dubois, Director of Sustainable Solar Development, BlueWave Energy
