Dual-Use Rules Can Alleviate Concern Over Solar Farms, Says Rural Group

With solar energy becoming more common, local officials should consider agrivoltaics, which combine solar panels and agricultural production on the same land, when drafting or amending ordinances on solar siting, said the Center for Rural Affairs on Monday. The center, based in Nebraska, released a “best practices” fact sheet that cited economic benefits from dual use sites and warned that overly prescriptive regulations could backfire.

“Adopting dual-use practices offers an alternative to the either/or mentality regarding agricultural and clean energy development,” said the fact sheet. Dual use, also called agrisolar and agrivoltaics, can preserve agricultural land for crops, livestock, and other uses, while generating revenue from solar production.

“Dual use has many economic benefits, like increased tax revenue, lease payments to local landowners, and the ability to continue agriculture use,” said Mallory Tope, a policy associate with the center. “Through creating balanced siting standards, county officials and landowners can play an active role in capturing those benefits.”

Counties could set additional requirements for dual use site, such as setting aside a portion of the land for pollinator habitat or requiring a special permit for solar, said the fact sheet. Regulations should “ensure dual-use practices are not limited or prohibited, which includes setting restrictions on panel height or developing overly prescriptive vegetation management requirements.”

Early this year, USDA analysts said the commercial viability of agrivoltaics was yet to be established. “The [agrivolatic] sites with crop production largely include those sites with a variety of specialty crops that can be harvested by hand.”

There were 309 utility-scale agrivoltaic installations in 2022, and approximately 274 of them, mostly in the Midwest, were planted with pollinator-friendly vegetation, said the ERS report. Fifteen of them combined pollinator vegetation and sheep grazing.

In June, some producers taking part in a Purdue poll said they were offered lease rates of $1,500 or more per acre to lease their land for solar production.