Farmers make their own solar power

How can farmers benefit from solar energy?

Farmers can benefit from solar energy in several ways—by leasing farmland for solar; installing a solar system on a house, barn, or other building; or through agrivoltaics. Agrivoltaics is defined as agriculture, such as crop production, livestock grazing, and pollinator habitat, located underneath solar panels and/or between rows of solar panels.

Can agriculture and solar farms work together?

But there is a way for agriculture and solar farms to exist in a mutually beneficial balance: agrivoltaics. Agrivoltaics, or agrophotovoltaics or agrisolar, involves using the same plot of land for agriculture and solar energy production. With agrivoltaics, farmers don’t have to give up traditional farm life to reap the benefits of solar panels.

Should farmers build solar panels on agricultural land?

But thanks to years of research, farmers and developers have learned to coordinate their efforts to benefit both parties. It may involve building solar panel arrays about 8 feet off the ground to allow space for crop growth and farm equipment. As of the end of 2022, less than 2% of solar energy projects are on agricultural land.

Could a solar farm take land out of production?

Solar farming is taking land once used to grow food. Researchers are looking for ways to do both Scott Thellman grows a mix of organic produce and conventional crops on land adjacent to a planned utility-scale solar farm north of Lawrence, Kansas. He says the project would take good farmland out of production.

Can solar farms coexist with agrivoltaics?

Now solar farms are a small but growing use for those fields. One answer is agrivoltaics – the idea that production agriculture can coexist with utility-scale solar power. Developers of the solar farm outside Lawrence, for instance, have promised to facilitate sheep grazing around and under solar panels.

Can land owners make money on solar power?

Land owners can absorb a cut in production and still make money on solar power, because power companies pay to lease land. A Purdue University survey found that 88% of farmers have been approached by solar companies, more than half of them offering at least $1,000 per acre to lease land for solar farms.