Solar Power World
By Richard Scott, VP of operations at JERA Nex | February 3, 2026
Solar is scaling faster than any other new power source in the United States. According to the EIA, almost 70 GW of new solar generating capacity is scheduled to be added in America in 2026 and 2027, a 49% increase compared to the end of 2025. That pace is good news for decarbonization, yet it raises familiar questions about how to expand responsibly. Can we build enough projects while respecting working lands, neighbors and local ecosystems? The short answer is yes. With smart design and site management, solar farms can support agriculture and biodiversity at the same time, turning clean energy projects into conservation assets for their communities.
Credit: Lightsource bp and JERA Nex
Agrivoltaic sites are managed to generate energy and support a second land use, such as habitat restoration or livestock grazing. These sites can provide practical benefits for project operations while improving outcomes for wildlife and nearby farms.
The Happy Solar Farm in White County, Arkansas, is a great example of this. The 95-MW facility powers roughly 21,000 homes. It is planted with native wildflowers that provide nectar and host plants for monarch butterflies and other pollinators. During the warmer months, a local flock of sheep graze between the rows. The sheep keep the vegetation around the racks and fences in check, reduce the need for mechanical mowing and return nutrients to the soil. The result is an operating model that controls costs, supports soil health and creates a protected patchwork of habitat within an operational energy site. Happy Solar Farm was designed this way from the start to demonstrate how agrivoltaics can work in a southern agricultural landscape in practice.
A frog found on a JERA Nex solar project in Arkansas
There is growing interest in how native vegetation under and around solar panel arrays can enhance wildlife and soil quality. While some studies have examined individual species or a few sites, the solar industry lacks large-sample, multi-taxa research that can distinguish the effects of site design, regional context and vegetation management. This evidence gap matters as developers, operators, regulators and communities seek reliable guidance for siting and stewardship.
To help build that evidence base, the University of Arkansas has embarked on a study spanning approximately 90 solar sites across Arkansas and neighboring states. A wide variety of mammals, birds, butterflies, amphibians and reptiles have been documented across the sites, including rare or endangered species such as the American badger, upland sandpiper, slender glass lizard, ornate box turtle and monarch butterfly. Happy Solar Farm is one of the focal locations, given its established pollinator habitat and managed sheep grazing. The study compares solar sites that use native vegetation with traditionally managed sites that rely on turfgrass or gravel, as well as with representative agricultural fields that resemble pre-construction conditions.
Arkansas has abundant sunshine and extensive agricultural land that is well-suited to solar development, especially in the Mississippi Delta region. Utility-scale projects in the state are expected to grow significantly in the coming years, which means siting decisions made now can shape outcomes for wildlife and working lands for decades. Research in this setting can help establish dual-use best practices that are relevant across similar agricultural regions in the United States.
Credit: Lightsource bp and JERA Nex
Pollinator-friendly solar can provide services that extend into neighboring farms, since many crops depend on insects and birds for pollination and pest control. Establishing native flowering species beneath arrays can bolster local pollinator communities during parts of the growing season when resources are scarce, which can in turn support yields on adjacent lands. The University of Arkansas study will help quantify these landscape-scale spillovers and identify the site characteristics that most reliably deliver them.
There are community-level benefits as well. Dual-use sites create seasonal jobs for grazing and habitat management, offer educational opportunities for local schools and universities and can improve the visual character of projects by replacing monoculture grass with diverse, regionally appropriate plantings. For landowners, grazing revenues and reduced maintenance disturbances can be meaningful additions to the lease value of solar.
A snake found on a JERA Nex solar project in Arkansas
As the industry builds the next wave of capacity, we should normalize planning for dual use from the earliest site assessment. That means panel heights that accommodate vegetation and sheep, fence designs that consider small wildlife, and O&M contracts that include biodiversity monitoring. It also means collaborating with local researchers and conservation groups to ensure that management is grounded in regional ecology, not just generic best practices. The University of Arkansas partnership is structured with exactly that goal in mind, so that findings translate directly into siting and management guidance for future projects.
To support a just energy transition, we must consider the impact of renewable energy projects on biodiversity and the environment at both a local and global scale. By designing models that deliver biodiversity and soil benefits alongside reliable generation, we can accelerate the transition while improving the resilience of rural landscapes. That is the promise of agrivoltaics, and with evidence-based and practical design, it is a promise we can keep.
Richard Scott has spent most of his career working in renewables for over 20 years across five continents. At JERA Nex, Richard is responsible for the delivery of the company’s global onshore renewables portfolio, both operational and development
Before the launch of JERA Nex, Richard was the Business Development Director for JERA’s offshore renewables business and has been heavily involved in the acquisition of Parkwind, undertaking an interim role as their Chief Strategy Officer. Previously, Richard was with SSE Renewables with roles including Head of Business Development and in operational asset management of offshore and onshore wind projects. A civil engineer by training, Richard has lived in Singapore, UAE, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Iraq, and currently the UK.
 
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