Walking on sunshine

While some forms of renewable energy are quietly accepted by the public, the mere mention of industrial-scale solar construction on farm acreage is frequently met with protests.

In some cases, integrating solar with an agricultural enterprise such as vegetable crops, hay, pollinator habitat or livestock makes the solar pill a bit easier to swallow.

Jordan Macknick, lead analyst for energy, water and land for the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), recently presented information on how agrivoltaics can help with energy costs without the loss of valuable agricultural acreage.

The NLR is the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency. The organization conducts solar research across the U.S., including improving solar cell efficiency and developing new solar panel materials that lower costs and improve panel durability. The NLR also works on long-duration thermal energy storage and grid integration.

“In the last two years, this field has exploded,” Macknick said, referring to the upswing in solar development. “There’s so much great research coming out. More than half of all utility scale solar projects in the country have been built on agricultural land. This represents a relatively small fraction of agricultural land, but it can be important locally and often it’s ag land that has been in production for decades or centuries. We want to make sure solar projects are good stewards of the land. Our hope and vision are that every solar project can incorporate some elements that improve soil and support agricultural communities.”

Agrivoltaics is the practice of using agricultural land for a combination of photovoltaic energy generation and ag production. Macknick said this can be done with both traditional utility scale configurations without altering the design, or with alternative configurations in which panels are elevated or spread out. This might include a fixed tilt system with traditional height and width, which works for grazing livestock or pollinator habitat. Elevated panels placed farther apart can better support plant growth, especially in sun-limited regions. Single-axis tracking systems track the sun to allow appropriate growth habitat for crops between the rows. Wider rows allow farm equipment to work without damaging panels.

Most solar in the U.S. involves traditional monofacial panels that capture sunlight on one side. An emerging solar design used in Europe and gaining popularity in the U.S. is bifacial systems. These arrays are vertical and employ panels on both sides to capture more sunlight throughout the day.

There are tradeoffs when agriculture is the primary focus of a solar project. Traditional utility scale solar designs are optimized for energy production – the lowest cost for the highest amount of energy. When panels are raised, spread out or erected with wider rows, the project often costs more and may produce less energy over a given area.

Macknick said solar energy systems designed with ag in mind are more complex. Factors including land preparation, construction practices to avoid soil compaction and allowing for farming after panel removal come with an additional price tag. Soft costs such as site preparation, installation labor, equipment rental, insurance, taxes, contingency costs and necessary office work add up quickly.

“Once we get to 10-foot-tall panels, we can see 30% to 40% cost increases,” Macknick said. “In addition, depending on the type of site and agricultural practices used, there are other elements to factor in – irrigation equipment, wells, fencing. This can become very complicated very quickly.”

For those interested in exploring solar options but with concerns, Macknick pointed to the wiki platform OpenEI. This free, open-source platform for knowledge-sharing provides access to data and tools related to energy. It was developed and is maintained by the NLR, with funding and support from the U.S. DOE along with international partners and sponsors.

To help decipher the complexities associated with determining exact costs and revenue, NLR worked with the U.S. DOE to develop an agrivoltaics economic tool known as the Innovative Solar Practices Integrated with Rural Environments (InSPIRE) project.

InSPIRE was released in summer 2026 and is based on the five Cs of agrivoltaics: climate (rain and sun), configuration (design), crops, cultivation and compatibility. It’s founded on work in both the U.S. and globally.

Several tools within the InSPIRE project can help more accurately estimate project costs based on array type, space between rows, scale of system, land availability, fixed tilt vs. single-axis tracking, row length, buffer rows between panels and monofacial or bifacial panels.

“We can also calculate all the economic factors,” Macknick said. “How much revenue will this bring, the payback period and net present value. We can also determine whether there are incentives.”

The Agrivoltaics Design & Analysis Model (ADAM) tool is a modeling platform to help evaluate the financial and agricultural costs and benefits of co-locating crops and solar panels.

The Agrivoltaics Shading Tool is an interactive tool that provides solar data for various solar configurations. Users can input local data for details on specific shading patterns and regimes for different designs. A Farmable Area calculator helps determine a design for a given site and how much arable land is between panels.

A technical assistance program dubbed AGRI-Tech has been developed in conjunction with American Farmland Trust (AFT). This program coordinates work with more than 60 groups across the country to design, build and execute agrivoltaics projects. Program recipients receive up to 100 hours of free technical assistance from team experts and AFT. The program offers opportunities for participants to talk with other landowners who are trying to build projects and learn from their mistakes and insight.

AGRI-Tech also provides information on how to approach local utilities, solar developers and state and local government agencies. There’s also information available on how to deal with barriers to solar development. The program is open to landowners, farmers and universities. The program involves a competitive process, and the next application cycle is now open.

“Agrivoltaics is growing rapidly across the country,” Macknick said. “There’s a big need for what Extension does as well as training programs for solar developers, agricultural communities and policymakers – and opportunities for new businesses, technologies and service companies.”

For additional information on NLR tools, assistance and other resources, visit nlr.gov.

by Sally Colby