News

American Farmland Trust seeing spike in agrivoltaics interest

A solar specialist with American Farmland Trust (AFT) says the number of solar farms incorporating some type of agriculture within the project is increasing.

Alan Bailey says the practice, known as agrivoltaics, is becoming more common.

“It’s beginning to pick up.”  He says, “Kind of the easy thing to do right now is grazing sheep. You know, using this land as a way to get some new pasture. There’s other folks that are starting to incorporate food crops. I kind of see that as a way to get new farmers onto the land.”

He tells Brownfield solar developers are also seeing the benefits of the practice.

“They see it as an avenue of getting projects permitted a little bit quicker.”  He says, “One of the biggest hurdles is the permitting process just because it is such a divisive topic.”

Bailey says AFT supports agrivoltaics incorporated projects.

“If we can keep some sort of ag production on that farm, then it’s serving two purposes.”  He says, “For American Farmland Trust, we see it as definitely a farmer viability piece. We want to ensure that everybody has the opportunity to make money on that farm as they see fit.”

Bailey says the organization has developed a set of Smart Solar principles aimed at safeguarding prime farmland.  A link to those resources can be found HERE.

AUDIO: Alan Bailey – American Farmland Trust