Opportunities in Agrivoltaics: Building Viability on Northeast Farms

Commodities

Practices

• Animal Production: grazing management
• Crop Production: cropping systems
• Education and Training: technical assistance
• Energy: solar energy
• Farm Business Management: new enterprise development
• Natural Resources/Environment: other
• Production Systems: other
• Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities, sustainability measures

Project Focus:

This project will build long-term viability on farms in New Jersey and New York by providing training, mentorship, and technical assistance to farmer operators seeking to build and/or grow agrivoltaics businesses. The educational resources developed, and lessons learned from the project also will inform broader efforts to support farmers across the Northeast region in the future.

Agrivoltaic projects combine solar energy generation and agriculture on the same piece of land. In the Northeast, widespread adoption of agrivoltaics could help increase farm viability, provide pathways in agriculture for beginning farmers, and protect farmland from development. The opportunities are not limited to landowners. Tenant farmers, including new and beginning farmers, can benefit by providing new farm services to solar asset owners.

However, significant barriers exist to the adoption of this promising but complex innovation. First and foremost, AFT research confirms farmers lack trusted educational resources and technical assistance from expert providers in the field of agrivoltaics. The project's approach of engaging a cohort of farmers and providing them with training and direct one-on-one technical assistance, while based on successful experience in accelerating adoption of regenerative agricultural practices, is novel for agrivoltaics.

The project will assist three types of farmers: farm owners considering integrating agrivoltaics into existing operations, tenant farmers exploring agrivoltaics as a service, and new and beginning farmers seeking to start agricultural enterprises that involve agrivoltaics.

Solution and Approach:

The project will educate 60-80 producers about opportunities to build long-term viability through the adoption of agrivoltaic projects. From this outreach, 24 farmers will be selected to participate as a cohort in training, support and site visits in Years 2 and 3. Farmers will receive personalized mentoring and technical assistance from experts in the field. By the end of the project, 6-10 farmers will develop designs and business plans for their agrivoltaic projects. The proposed project will directly benefit the individual farmers engaged in the project-the innovators-in developing their agrivoltaic plans and projects. But it also will give other farmers and landowners a path to explore this promising innovation. In addition, the participating farmers and their projects will become resources for others as we know that producers learn best through peer-to-peer learning and visiting sites.

6 farmers will take concrete steps towards adoption of agrivoltaics such as developing a solar design, farm plan, financial plan, working with a solar developer, offering a proposal for solar grazing to a solar asset owner, and/or submitting a proposal for funding or permitting for their project. Estimated benefits include $1,200-$3,000 per acre for siting an agrivoltaic project on their farm and solar graziers can receive $250/acre for grazing services.