The term “solar farm” was coined in the early 1970s because the rows of solar panels resembled rows of crops. However, a solar farm only “harvests” the sun to convert it to electricity.
What if a solar farm could also be… a farm? I posed this question in my introductory remarks at the March 10 screening of the documentary “Save the Farm, Save the Future” at Chesapeake College. The film provided a glimpse into real-life “agrivoltaics,” where agricultural crops or livestock coexist on the same land as the solar panels.
The economics of agrivoltaics are favorable to both the developer, who leases the land for multiple decades, and farmers, who will get access to the land through an agreement with the developer. The farmer using the land may not be the land owner, which opens up additional opportunities. In fact, the most common use currently in the United States is sheep grazing, where the developer pays a farmer to bring their herd to the solar installation for “vegetation management.”
In the panel following the documentary, we explored whether Eastern Shore farmers would be interested in partnering with responsible solar developers for agrivoltaics.
On the one hand, Eastern Shore residents deeply resent their farmland preservation goals being preempted by Maryland’s clean energy goals. On the other hand, as mentioned by the panelists, recent policy changes have incentivized agrivoltaics, especially for community solar – a type of project which has the added benefit of lowering electricity costs for local subscribers. However, the concept is still relatively new. Most of the Maryland sites are “pollinators,” which no longer fall under the legal definition.
I was disappointed to hear some audience members be dismissive of hay, specialty crops, and sheep grazing as dual-use solutions for agrivoltaics. In fact, some people were opposed to allowing a solar installation to qualify for the agricultural use tax assessment (lower than “market value”). This was surprising given the strong concerns about solar taking over farmland. The assessment would provide an incentive to simultaneously use the land for both solar and agriculture. Thus, solar installations with agrivoltaics would support local agricultural jobs and help farmers be more profitable.
The Eastern Shore is uniquely positioned to embrace this agricultural opportunity. In the best case scenario, agrivoltaics could expand from a “niche” to a widespread practice, and the land could be available for both current and future generations of farmers.
Cora Dickson
Principal, Solar Policy Associates
Rock Hall
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