Friday, June 26, 2026 at 2:00 AM
By Kathy Bottorff
The Marshall County Commissioners unanimously approved an amendment to the County Zoning Ordinance adding a formal definition for agrivoltaics — the practice of combining agricultural land use with solar energy production — while making clear the practice remains subject to the county's existing limits on solar installations.
Marshall County Plan Director Nick Witwer brought the amendment before the commissioners last week, explaining that agrivoltaics is growing in use globally and can offer meaningful benefits to both farming operations and renewable energy production. The practice involves simultaneously using the same land for agriculture and solar photovoltaic power generation, with panels typically mounted on elevated racks or oriented vertically to allow farm machinery, livestock, and crops to coexist beneath or between the rows.
Witwer told the commissioners that while agrivoltaics offers genuine agricultural benefits, the term can sometimes be misused as a workaround to bypass solar restrictions — with industrial-scale solar projects being labeled as agricultural to sidestep regulations. The county recently approved a ban on solar farms and capped solar projects at five solar-panel acres on any single piece of property.
"We want to clarify this would be part of the 5-panel acre limit the county has on any given property," Witwer said.
Commissioner Klotz noted the importance of the clarification from a legal standpoint, saying the county is working to avoid any potential legal challenge related to the definition.
Common applications of agrivoltaics include solar grazing, where livestock such as sheep or chickens roam and graze around solar arrays to control vegetation and reduce mowing costs, and crop cultivation, where shade-tolerant plants like tomatoes, radishes, spinach, and grapes thrive under the diffused light created by solar panels. Proponents of the practice view farming and solar energy as complements rather than competitors, allowing landowners to generate renewable power while keeping working agricultural land in active production.
County Attorney Sean Surrisi advised the board that a public hearing was not required for the ordinance amendment. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the addition of agrivoltaics to the county's zoning definitions on all three readings.
Click Here for your 5 day Forecast
Thundershower
High: 88°F | Low: 73°F
© Copyright 2026 GIANT fm. Powered by Aiir.
