Agricultural solar energy solutions

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.

What is Ag Solar Solutions?

Ag Solar Solutions is a company dedicated to improving the bottom line of the agricultural industry by providing energy solutions that instantly translate into increased profits.

What is agrivoltaics and how can it benefit the solar industry?

For the solar industry, agrivoltaics has the potential to facilitate siting of solar installations, improve solar PV panel performance by cooling the panels, and lower operations and maintenance costs by limiting the need for mowing.

Could agrivoltaics be a solution?

Combining agriculture and solar on the same piece of land might be a solution, which is why DOE is funding $15 million in research on how agrivoltaics could work for farmers, the solar industry, and communities. Agrivoltaics is still a nascent business model.

Are solar panels good for agriculture?

Research in the drylands of Arizona found that farming under solar panels can decrease evaporation of water from the soil and potentially reduce irrigation requirements. Agrivoltaics can also improve crop yield and crop resistance in extreme weather, such as droughts.

Will agricultural land be used for solar energy?

Agricultural land in the U.S. has the technical potential to provide This is a quarter of the total U.S. solar energy capacity of 115 TW. Only 0.3% of farmland is expected to be used for solar energy by 2035. Will using land for solar panels drive up the price of food? There is no documented evidence of solar panels increasing food prices.