July 8, 2026
By Benjamin Narwold, contributing author
Solar development is often seen as a threat to farmland, with an assumption that food production and energy production must compete for access to the same land. Agrivoltaics challenges that assumption.
Agrivoltaics defined
Agrivoltaics is the integration of agricultural production as the primary use and solar energy generation and storage as the secondary use of land throughout the full lifecycle of a solar array.
In California, where farmers face increasing economic and environmental pressures, this integrated dual-use approach is changing how some farmers and landowners think about the future. With agrivoltaics, the question no longer has to be “farming OR solar,” and the answer can be “farming AND solar.”
Four principles of agrivoltaics
What distinguishes an agrivoltaics project from a conventional solar project? There are four key principles at the core of an agrivoltaics project:
- Integrated: Farming and solar share the same land.
In an agrivoltaics system, crops are grown in the same area as solar panels – not in an adjacent area. - Intentional: Systems are designed to optimize agriculture and energy outcomes.
From the outset, agrivoltaics systems are built with thoughtful design choices, such as elevated racking systems and light-filtering panels. - Collaborative: Solar and farming partner to support farming operations and energy production.
Teaming for shared success throughout the full life of a project is central to an agrivoltaics project. - Connected: Impacts are measured across energy, agriculture, environment, and community.
Agrivoltaics requires a multi-dimensional view, and impacts are closely monitored across stakeholder groups and system considerations.
What this looks like in practice
As these principles take hold and interest in agrivoltaics grows, researchers across California are studying different agrivoltaics system designs and crop pairings. At the University of California, Davis, researchers are examining how different solar panels, configurations, and technologies affect crop growth and water-use efficiency. At California State University, Chico, a novel checkerboard array design is being tested for its effects on crop performance. At California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, trials with leafy greens are exploring how partial shading changes crop performance in Southern California heat.
Photo: Jael Mackendorf
Photo: Dr. Lee Altier
Photo: Dr. Eshwar Ravishankar
While we at HARVEST California are focused on the integration of crops and solar throughout the state, the use cases of agrivoltaics extend further. As this dynamic Agrivoltaics Map, managed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies shows, solar sites here and across the country are also pairing with different types of agriculture.
The dual-use advantage
Agrivoltaics doesn’t ask landowners or farmers to choose between agriculture and solar. Rather, it unlocks the opportunity to produce both food and energy on the same land. This dual-use approach is an efficient use of land, and it provides many other benefits that we’ll dive into in a future post. In the meantime, please share your questions or tell us about an interesting agrivoltaics project you’re aware of in or beyond California.
Contributing Author Benjamin Narwold is an incoming Environmental Systems MS student at Cal Poly Humboldt and is focused on advancing sustainable land use at the intersection of agriculture, renewable energy, and biodiversity conservation. Author contact: bpnarwold@humboldt.edu
