Survey Finds 70% Of US Farmers Are Open To Large-Scale Solar On Farmland – CleanTechnica

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If large-scale solar projects can allow for the continued use of their land for agricultural production, 70% of US farmers are open to the idea of solar developments on their farmland, according to the results of a new survey from the Solar and Storage Industries Institute. The survey, which sought to measure the opinions about solar on farmland from hundreds of farmers and solar developers, plus some utility stakeholders, is the first of its kind in the US, and was used to build a new report laying out some of the barriers to new agrivoltaic projects.

The report is one part of a larger project which is being funded by the US DOE Foundational Agrivoltaic Research for Megawatt Scale (FARMS) program, with the aim of studying existing barriers to agrivoltaics and then developing recommendations to overcome them, as while there are a growing number of small agrivoltaics projects, only about a tenth of large-scale solar projects currently implement agrivoltaics in their design, per NREL.

According to the report “Understanding Barriers to Agrivoltaics: A Survey Approach,” up to 70% of farmers are open to large-scale solar on farmland, as long as dual-use or an agrivoltaic approach is included in the design of those systems. This approach would enable the farmers to get supplementary income from solar, while still being able to continue their farming operations around and under the solar array.

“This report shines a bright spotlight on the reality that farmers and ranchers can play a significant role in helping us keep the lights on with clean energy. Agrivoltaics remain one of the smartest ways for farmers, big and small, to maintain their operations while speeding up clean energy deployment at the same time. This report confirms that, under the right circumstances farmers and solar developers want to work together, and our job now is to deliver the tools and resources they need to make that process easier.” — Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association

However, the report also found that farmers were “far more likely to support distributed solar projects on farm property,” such as smaller-scale solar arrays that would be used “to directly power the farm operations,” while less than half of the farmers who responded to the survey would be in favor of utility-scale solar projects on farmland. More than 78% of those respondents “were “somewhat” or “very” concerned with utility-scale solar impacts on farmland price and access, while 77% had some level of concern around utility-scale solar impacts on farmland preservation.” Additionally, 42% said they were “very concerned” about utility-scale solar’s impacts on farm productivity, and 40% were very concerned about impacts on soil quality.

“The research shows most farmers are interested in exploring solar, provided that they have enough information to make good business decisions and continue farming. With the survey complete, we will develop case studies on the factors that influence project economics and outcomes in agrivoltaic projects, helping solar developers and farmers overcome the ongoing challenges they face.” — David Gahl, Solar and Storage Industries Institute Executive Director

The report also stated that although 30% of the farmers responding to the survey were “consistently opposed large-scale solar under any condition,” they were also “less likely to be familiar with agrivoltaic design concepts,” which points to the necessity for additional education about agrivoltaics in order to increase support for solar development on farmland.

From the perspective of the solar developers surveyed, almost half of them said they “believe that solar on farmland will make up a majority of their future business opportunities,” and some 80% of solar developers stated that they plan to include agrivoltaics strategies in their projects in the future. However, “certain techniques, such as elevating panels to allow for farm equipment access, are still seen as difficult to implement” by a large majority, and “system designs that typically require the elevation of solar panels beyond typical heights are seen as much harder” by solar developers. One potential path for mitigating those concerns is an increase in availability of “specialized hardware for agrivoltaics installations,” which may come about through greater demand for agrivoltaics driving an “increased supply of agrvivoltaic-specific hardware solutions and ultimately, greater supplier competition and lower prices.”

There’s a lot to unpack about solar on farmland in the new 64-page report from the Solar and Storage Industries Institute, so if you’re interested in agrivoltaics as a key element of a clean energy future, you can download it here: “Understanding Barriers to Agrivoltaics: A Survey Approach.“