Crops, cows, and solar panels? Why farmers are harvesting sunlight.
| SOUTH DEERFIELD, MASS.
The corn has been collected, the cabbage gathered, and the pumpkin season is almost done. But on this University of Massachusetts Amherst research farm, there is still one last harvest taking place 鈥� a harvest of sunlight.
鈥淎grivoltaics,鈥� or dual-use solar panels, are placed between or above rows of plants to collect the sun鈥檚 energy. Here, they resemble metal versions of the old orchards that dot other hills in this region. Back in the spring, farmers planted corn, cabbage, and other vegetables below their metal canopies.
To Dwayne Breger, director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Clean Energy Extension team running this research site, this solar array represents the future of farming 鈥� a way to collect energy while also using the land productively, and helping farmers at the same time.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onThe solar industry is facing increasing criticism for taking up too much agricultural land. Massachusetts farmers are testing solutions that grow both food and power.
Agrivoltaics, he says, can support the solar needs of Massachusetts and 鈥減otentially support the agricultural economy and farmers that are facing various different stresses.鈥�
Those stresses include droughts and financial instability 鈥� not only here in Massachusetts, but across the United States.
鈥淪mall farming is a tough business,鈥� says Keith Hevenor, communications manager at the Boston-based solar company Nexamp. The decades of predictable income that agrivoltaics can offer, he says, 鈥渋s giving them that certainty to keep forging ahead.鈥�
There are still hurdles to overcome with dual-use solar, Dr. Breger acknowledges. Installation costs can range as high as $1 million, and tapping into an outdated energy grid can be challenging.
But here in western Massachusetts 鈥� a region not exactly known for its sunshine or open landscapes 鈥� a are showing just how commercially viable it could be.
Solar is growing across the U.S.
Over the past decade, the production of solar power in the U.S. has increased according to some analyses, with the cost of both solar panels and power dropping precipitously.
Some analysts expect the industry to triple over the next 10 years.
Most states are embracing the technology to help meet carbon emission reduction goals. Massachusetts, for example, calls for at least 27 gigawatts of solar power to meet its goal of going carbon-neutral by 2050, which would require increasing solar power by more than 400% from the state鈥檚 current capacity. Larger states like Texas, where solar projects are growing fastest, of solar power over the next five years.
But solar takes up space. In order to meet these goals, panels will need to span massive amounts of land 鈥� land that is often prime for agricultural use.
This has sparked growing criticism of solar power. But it has also prompted new efforts to solve the problem.
Massachusetts was the to provide incentives for agrivoltaics. The Northeast does not have the huge prairies conducive for wind farms or the easily accessible geothermal energy that exists in parts of the West Coast. That leaves solar as a renewable energy source 鈥� and without the large, open spaces one might find further west, Massachusetts has had to improvise.
鈥淭here鈥檚 three drivers for [solar] markets,鈥� says Jim Hafner, New England Regional Director for American Farmland Trust, a land conservation group. 鈥淥ne is how sunny it is, which we kind of take a hit on, but the other is the energy prices you鈥檙e competing with, and we鈥檙e good on that one because our energy prices tend to be quite a bit higher than Arizona, for example. And then the third is what local state level incentives are available. And there again, we鈥檝e been offering more incentives than in other states.鈥�
Those incentives originate from the Commonwealth鈥檚 program, and include . On the federal level, the Biden administration recently announced a investment to advance American solar manufacturing, in addition to another to improve planning, siting, and permitting processes.
With both state and federal aid, many Massachusetts solar companies have turned to the people who have long tried to make use of the rocky, hilly landscape: farmers.
How do farmers fit into the picture?
Joe Czajkowski is one of the pioneers. His farm in Hadley, Massachusetts, boasts a 2.3 acre array atop his broccoli, large enough to power about 60 homes, he says.
His farm uses refrigeration for both the storage and the delivery of his vegetables. With the solar array, he gets a 15% reduction on his electric bill, he says, 鈥渨hich is more than $5,000 a month鈥� in savings. With this influx of cash, Mr. Czajkowski has been able to expand his solar arrays as well as modernize his vehicles, buying a fully electric delivery van to ship his produce across the state.
When it comes to his crops, Mr. Czajkowski says he鈥檚 seen no difference between those under the panels and those elsewhere. Indeed, from Hasselt University in Belgium shows that the shade provided might actually help the plants combat heat stress and need less water.
And it is not just produce that can be co-utilized with solar farms. Grazing animals between panels has become increasingly popular.
For farmers, owning land and buying food for their animals has historically been an expense to them. But by partnering with companies like Nexamp, 鈥淸grazing] becomes a revenue source for them,鈥� the firm鈥檚 communications manager, Mr. Hevenor, says. The companies pay farmers to have their animals do 鈥渧egetation management鈥� 鈥� or, simply, eating.
Other farms are developing pollinator habitats underneath panels.
Lee Walston and Heidi Hartmann, both environmental scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, a federally funded research center, have spent the last few years pairing pollinator habitats with solar arrays. The effects, they found, have been a boon for the region. In addition to rebuilding lost habitats for insects and other pollinators due to climate change, they also boost agricultural productivity of nearby farms.
Farmers have a long history of supporting the energy industry. Every year, U.S. farmers plant around 140,000 square miles of corn, 30% of which is used to produce ethanol. Not only is dual-use solar better for the environment, supporters say, it also produces upwards of than ethanol.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a must do, I think, because we鈥檙e going to need a lot more solar,鈥� says Mr. Walston. 鈥淐urrent projections are calling for upwards of 10 million acres of solar by 2050 in order to really combat climate change and meet our nation鈥檚 clean energy goals.鈥�
And most farmers are open to the idea. As many as on their properties, according to the Solar and Storage Industries Institute, as long as they can continue to grow crops.
That鈥檚 not to say there aren鈥檛 worries among farmers. Some are concerned that installing solar panels will lead to cutting down too many trees. Others are concerned that devoting too much space to agrovoltaics will make it harder for new farmers, who often start out by renting land.
Dual-use solar still makes up a minuscule amount of the solar business, with only for agrivoltaics across the U.S.
But, those who have adopted agrivoltaics remain optimistic.
鈥淒ual-use solar makes a lot of sense on every farm,鈥� Mr. Czajkowski says. 鈥淚 think you could do some really wonderful things with this.鈥�
