Solar Co-location Provides Financial Boost for Farmers, Study Finds

Scientists from Michigan State University published a study in Nature Sustainability, documenting how co-locating solar arrays on agricultural land can help farmers stay solvent. Research in California showed that farmers who used a few acres of less-productive land for solar arrays had more financial stability than those who opted to convert agricultural land exclusively to solar energy production. The farmers who combined agricultural and energy production spent less on fertilizer, water, and farming supplies, than farmers without energy production on their land. Meanwhile, the income from selling energy made up for the decrease in production from converting some crop land to energy production. The study authors say that deliberate siting of solar arrays could successfully make them part of a sustainable food system.
Related NCAT publication: Best Practices in Agrisolar