Agrivoltaics: Farming Under Solar Panels
The sharpest critique of utility-scale solar is that it consumes farmland. Agrivoltaics answers it directly — same land, both uses. Here's how dual-use solar works, what the research shows, and where it's happening.
What is agrivoltaics?
Agrivoltaics is the practice of using the same land for both solar power generation and agriculture — either crops grown beneath panels mounted 8 to 15 feet high, or livestock (most often sheep) grazing around conventional arrays. NREL's InSPIRE program counts nearly 600 agrivoltaic sites operating across the United States, covering more than 65,000 acres, and a 2019 Nature Sustainability study found co-locating solar and agriculture can raise overall land productivity 60 to 70 percent compared to using the land for either purpose alone.
The concept dates to 1981, when German physicist Adolf Goetzberger first proposed it; Japan's elevated-panel systems made it commercial in the early 2010s. Today it takes two main forms: crop-based systems with panels mounted high enough for tractors to pass beneath, and solar grazing, where livestock manage vegetation under conventional arrays.
Sources: NREL InSPIRE Agrivoltaics Map (site count); Nature Sustainability (land productivity). Figures last verified July 23, 2026.
Does farming under solar panels actually work?
Research says yes, for the right crops. At Jack's Solar Garden in Colorado — the largest US research agrivoltaic site, studied with NREL and the University of Arizona — shade-tolerant crops like kale, chard, and peppers produced yields comparable to or better than full sun, while using about 30 percent less irrigation water. Solar grazing is even more established: developers including Enel North America run sheep on dozens of utility-scale sites to manage vegetation.
NREL's InSPIRE program has coordinated dozens of studies on crop yields, pollinator habitat, and soil moisture under panels. The pattern across them: partial shade hurts sun-hungry row crops like corn, but helps or is neutral for leafy greens, berries, herbs, and forage — and reduces water stress in arid regions.
How much does agrivoltaics cost compared to regular solar?
Developer experience suggests agrivoltaic design adds roughly 5 to 10 percent to project costs (Sol Systems), largely from taller racking and wider row spacing. In exchange, projects report better community acceptance and permitting outcomes — a meaningful trade in counties where farmland loss drives solar opposition. The global agrivoltaics market is valued at about $6.3 billion.
That community-acceptance dividend matters: farmland preservation is a leading argument in county solar fights across Ohio, Indiana, and the Midwest — see our Opposition Tracker for where those battles stand.
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Related terms in the Clean Energy Glossary. Statistics free to cite with attribution to the named primary sources.