At Elm Branch Solar Farm, located approximately an hour south of Dallas, Texas, Amanda Stoffels oversees a flock of her grazing sheep among the vast field of solar panels. Stoffels owns the land, which she leases to Lightsource BP – a solar energy company 50% owned by British oil major BP. Her lease payments, along with her grazing contract with Lightsource, enable her to work full-time as a shepherd and forgo her 9 to 5 job.Agrivoltaics, an industry combining solar energy production with agricultural activities, may curb the land-use conflict between farmers and solar developers. According to Jordan Macknick, Lead Energy-Water-Land Analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, "Even though the United States is a large country with available land, every square inch is owned, protected and cherished by someone. Agrivoltaics offers an opportunity to continue farming and agricultural activities while also producing clean electricity."
Tom Koranek, a landowner and beekeeper who leases land to Lightsource and produces honey on the solar farm, noted that solar farms often require land with a 1-4% slope, which can take some of the best land out of production. Still, agrivoltaic projects present an opportunity to benefit both farmers and solar developers, and the solar industry is expanding rapidly, bringing agrivoltaics with it. Research in this area is still relatively new, and some farmers may have reservations.
In order to achieve its objectives of decarbonization, the nation will need to significantly increase the amount of utility-scale solar power. Given that 44% of the nation's total land area is devoted to agriculture, many solar developers are aiming to develop projects on farms. Becca Jones-Albertus, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office, states that "the attraction of agrivoltaics lies in its capacity to gain community acceptance and to generate excitement about solar projects". Approximately a third of all land use in the nation is dedicated to grazing land, and the combination of solar energy production and grazing makes a previously unavailable market space. Today, the U.S. contains over five gigawatts of agrivoltaic projects, located on more than 35,000 acres across over 30 states; though this only constitutes roughly 3% of the installed solar capacity, the industry is growing and farmers are taking notice. According to a farmer who leased his land to Lightsource, financial returns from this venture are far more reliable than those from crops, making agrivoltaics a more viable option.
Lightsource has 615 megawatts of sheep grazing and solar power projects in operation, which accounts for 12% of the nation's agrivoltaic portfolio. The company plans to increase this to 1,058 megawatts in the next year. Shell has a 44% stake in solar developer Silicon Ranch, which has 1,300 megawatts of agrivoltaic projects currently in operation and is set to add 900 megawatts in the next two years. Silicon Ranch chooses to buy land outright instead of leasing it, often selecting degraded farmland that is no longer in use. According to Reagan Farr, co-founder and CEO of Silicon Ranch, this real estate ownership model was chosen to provide proof of their long-term commitment to the community. As well as leasing land to local ranchers, Silicon Ranch invests in their own flock of sheep, aiming to grow their herd to 30,000 by 2030. Lightsource and Silicon Ranch lead the domestic agrivoltaic market, with some other smaller companies such as Enel Green Power and US Solar also present. Nevertheless, American oil majors such as Chevron and Exxon have not invested in agrivoltaics.
It is widely known how to raise sheep and create habitats for pollinators near solar arrays, however, it is more challenging to cultivate plants in and around the panels. Many crops, including tomatoes and broccoli, can grow beneath the solar panels, however, the array design must frequently be changed, usually by elevating the panels so that the plants can reach their complete height. This method can be expensive, and the economics may only be viable for small-scale projects in markets that provide strong solar incentives. This makes scaling up particularly daunting. As per Macknick, "Given the present cost of PV technology, and taking into account the existing energy markets in the U.S., it will be difficult to see crop production agrivoltaics take place on a large scale beyond five megawatts." Nevertheless, the Department of Energy is funding six agrivoltaic projects, aiming to deploy more than 1 megawatt of projects for crop production and over 10 megawatts of projects for grazing and pollinator habitats. Lightsource BP is keen to experiment crop production, and hopes to use one of its locations as a test site the following year. On the other hand, Silicon Ranch is not looking for partnerships yet. No matter the course these companies (and their oil backers) choose, it is essential to establish beneficial relations with the local community and to negotiate appropriate land-usage agreements. As Farr explains, "We have to bring value to the communities where we install these solar arrays, or we will lose our social license to operate, and this will impede our ability to meet our renewable energy goals as a country." Watch the video to find out more about this emerging agrivoltaics sector and to hear from the farmers involved.
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