Solar power generation from solar panels on St George farmland

Is farmland suitable for solar energy development?

Farmland is considered by developers to be ideally suited for utility- or grid-scale solar energy development . While wind energy can more easily be deployed as “dual-use” with agricultural production, it is far more challenging to achieve this co-location for solar.

Can solar power be used on farmland?

Joshua Pearce and Ethan Winter lead efforts to understand the impact and encourage large-scale solar power generation on farmland. Agrivoltaics, a relatively new term, unites cropping practices and solar panels on the same fields. Installed solar panels can provide a perennial electrical energy harvest, feeding directly into the power grid.

Will 83 percent of solar energy be on farmland?

Researchers at American Farmland Trust, a non-profit farmland protection organization, however, found that 83 percent of new solar energy development in the United States will be on farm and ranchland, unless current government policies change. Nearly half would be on the nation's best land for producing food, fiber, and other crops.

Are solar energy facilities displacing farmland?

Driven by subsidies, mandates and federal and state policies compelling the use of more renewable energy, solar energy facilities are now displacing farmland at an increasing rate.