By Stacie Peterson, National Center for Appropriate Technology Farmworkers are a particularly vulnerable population for heat-related illnesses because they perform manual labor outdoors, in direct sunlight, often in heavy, impermeable work clothing, during the hottest season (Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, 2024; El Khayat et al., 2022; EPA, 1983; Bethel and Harger, 2014). The trend […]
Alexis Pascaris, National Renewable Energy Laboratory;Stacie Peterson, National Center for Appropriate Technology;Greg Plotkin, American Farmland Trust This publication intends to inspire critical thinking about the importance of social aspects in agrisolar projects. We highlight considerations related to cultural landscapes, social acceptance, and participatory planning and offer lessons learned from case studies and a Stakeholder Engagement […]
By Stacie Peterson, PhD, NCAT; and Heidi Kolbeck-Urlacher, Center for Rural AffairsMarch 2024 Agrisolar practices, also called agrivoltaics, are the co-location of agriculture and solar within the landscape. They include solar co-located with crops, grazing, beekeeping, pollinator habitat, aquaculture, and farm or dairy processing. Agrisolar practices offer an opportunity to allow solar and agriculture to […]
By Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Centerat Jack’s Solar Garden Compared to conventional solar energy developments, agrivoltaic systems may have different capital expenditures, cash flows, and risk impacts for a solar asset owner. Discussed herein are only broad, qualitative financial impacts, as there are too many agrivoltaic applications (e.g., over orchards, grasslands, croplands, livestock), solar designs (e.g., […]
January 29, 2024 Students interested in the creative and holistic design and development of agrivoltaic systems that combine the use of solar photovoltaic power on agricultural lands are being encouraged to “Solve This Challenge” by competing in this year’s Student Design Competition at the 5th Annual Agrivoltaics World Conference. The conference will take place in […]
This guide serves as an introduction to the solar industry, relative to agrisolar development in the United States, community programs, and solar ownership or lease opportunities for homes, farms, and ranches. It covers ownership options for small-scale, single-user solar installations, community solar installations that distribute power throughout a community, and utility-scale installations that sell power to the utility, as well as common utility-scale land-lease components for landowners looking to allow a developer to construct and operate a solar installation on a portion of their land. Finally, using nationwide average statistics on production and cost, the guide offers a financial snapshot of a utility-scale solar installation.
The AgriSolar Policy Guide was designed to facilitate policy learning and innovation in the United States. The intention of this guide is not to advocate for certain initiatives, but to provide a central platform for education and engagement and to support policy innovation for better co-location.
