Report: Putting solar panels on farmland could help meet renewable energy needs and financially benefit farmers

The 20-megawatt Maricopa West project near Bakersfield, surrounded by almond groves. (L.A. Times photo by Al Seib)

The things that make American croplands perfect for growing also make many ideal for hosting solar panels: plenty of sunlight, low humidity, and moderate wind and temperatures. The practice, dubbed agrivoltaics, could offset a significant chunk of global non-renewable electricity demands while alleviating concerns that solar installations will take up large swaths of otherwise useful land, according to a newly published study in Scientific Reports.

"The findings raise a pair of potential implications: One possibility is that land-intensive solar uses will increasingly compete with agriculture for available acres. That competition has already manifested in conflicts between the two industries, and some states have adopted rules establishing boundaries on the use of valuable farmland for gathering solar energy," Ryan McCrimmon reports for Politico's Morning Agriculture newsletter. "On the other hand, crop growers could see financial benefits from developing agrivoltaic systems that could help power their farm operations."

The practice is becoming more popular in California, where limited water supplies hinder many farmers. "In the San Joaquin Valley alone, farmers may need to take more than half a million acres out of production to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which will ultimately put restrictions on pumping," Sammy Roth reports for the Los Angeles Times. "Converting farmland to solar farms also could be key to meeting California’s climate change targets. That’s according to a new report from the Nature Conservancy."