As A New Farm Bill Nears, Congress Should Consider Agrivoltaics

By Tyler Swanson and Andrea Gerlak

Amid a tumultuous legislative session, Congress has extended the current Farm Bill through fall 2024. The extension will provide some certainty to farmers while also giving lawmakers an additional year to deliberate the merits of the five-year, $700 billion funding package. This extra time allows lawmakers to more thoroughly consider innovations and investments that will shape the future of American agriculture – including “agrivoltaics,” a new practice that melds farming and solar energy.

In the five years since the last farm bill was passed, utility-scale solar energy generation in the U.S. has more than doubled, and the Inflation Reduction Act is providing further support for renewable energy development in rural communities through the Renewable Energy for America Program, or REAP. The rapid expansion of solar energy is expected to continue: the U.S. Department of Energy projects that installed solar capacity will increase by at least a factor of seven by 2050. Efforts to increase solar capacity are part of the Biden administration’s plan to speed up the renewable energy transition through funding for new energy transmission projects and a proposal to limit environmental reviews for renewable energy projects.

While applauded by some, the explosive growth of solar energy also sparks concern about the loss of prime farmland. The American Farmland Trust projects that over 80% of new solar projects built by 2040 will be sited on agricultural lands. Solar development is not expected to be evenly dispersed, leading to increased costs for farmland in certain communities and potentially pushing some farmers out of business. These concerns have spurred the development of an emerging land-use practice with a more synergistic approach: agrivoltaics.

Agrivoltaics is an emerging dual-use approach where land both generates power from solar panels and maintains agricultural production. Agrivoltaics allows for crop production, livestock grazing, and pollinator habitat beneath and in between rows of solar panels. In addition to allowing for dual land use, in some cases agrivoltaics improves crop yields, soil carbon, and irrigation efficiency. Agrivoltaics projects can be found in many countries around the globe, from China and Japan to Germany, Italy, and Kenya.

With recent support from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE), researchers at institutions across the country are studying the potential of agrivoltaics. Further, members of Congress are showing their support for agrivoltaics through the use of marker bills, proposed legislation that signifies a legislator’s interest in a topic for consideration in the Farm Bill. 

Earlier this year, three marker bills on agrivoltaics were introduced in the U.S. Senate. Senators Heinrich (D-NM) and Braun (R-IN) introduced the “Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Act of 2023,” a funding bill that would create a legal definition of agrivoltaics, allocate $75 million to agrivoltaics research over five years, and direct the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to develop a five-year plan to support agrivoltaic systems that do not displace agricultural production.

Another marker bill, the “Pollinator Power Act of 2023” introduced by Senators Merkley (D-OR) and Booker (D-NJ), would direct the USDA’s REAP program to help fund up to 55% of the creation of a pollinator habitat on a solar project and give funding priority to projects that include pollinator-friendly habitat in their design.

Finally, the “Protecting Future Farmland Act of 2023,” which blends aspects of the earlier bills, was introduced by Senators Grassley (R-IA) and Baldwin (D-WI).   

These marker bills represent a promising step toward balancing solar energy growth and agricultural production in rural communities. And their bipartisan support is important, given the general climate of conflict and polarization about addressing climate change in the Farm Bill.

One key legislative action is to give agrivoltaic projects priority for REAP funding. This provides a strong incentive for applicants to consider adapting agrivoltaics in their solar projects, given the high demand for REAP funding. Incorporating agrivoltaics into solar projects may help to reduce opposition to solar energy in rural communities like Pinal County, Arizona where the board of supervisors recently considered removing solar energy as a permissible use amid growing opposition from residents and farmers alike.

Funding for agrivoltaics in the Farm Bill would also allow the federal government to catch up with state governments in the regulation and promotion of agrivoltaics. Several states have enacted unique policies on agrivoltaics, such as pollinator-friendly scorecards, feed-in-tariffs, smart solar scorecards, and tax incentives, and agrivoltaic projects are increasingly prevalent in those states. With federal support through REAP, agrivoltaic installations may become more evenly distributed throughout the United States.

There is no doubt that the 2024 Farm Bill will occupy a critical period in America’s clean energy transition as several states make efforts to achieve targets set by Renewable Portfolio Standards and developers take advantage of the subsidies present in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act. By incorporating agrivoltaics into the upcoming Farm Bill, Congress can help ensure that solar development is complementary to --rather than competitive with -- America’s agricultural interests.

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Tyler Swanson is pursuing Master of Arts degree in Geography at the University of Arizona’s School of Geography, Development and Environment. Tyler focuses on rural geography and is a graduate research assistant for the Barron-Gafford research group studying agrivoltaics.

Andrea K. Gerlak is director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and a professor in the School of Geography, Development and Environment at the University of Arizona. She is a Tucson Public Voices fellow with the OpEd Project.