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Specialty Crop Agrivoltaics in the Southeastern USA: Profitability and the Role of Rural Energy for America Program

Author

Listed:
  • Mishra, Bijesh
  • Miao, Ruiqing
  • Musa, Ngbede
  • Brothers, Dennis
  • Khanna, Madhu
  • Rabinowitz, Adam N.
  • Mwebaze, Paul
  • McCall, James

Abstract

U.S. solar energy production increased threefold from 2017 to 2022 (Hodge, 2023) as the federal government aimed to achieve carbon-free electricity by 2035 to combat climate change (Mamun et al., 2022; Gomez-Casanovas et al., 2023; U.S. Department of Energy, 2023). Solar energy has been the fastest-growing electric power sector since 2023, with this growth expected to persist through 2025 (Hess and Tsai, 2024). Solar energy production is increasing in cropland areas due to cropland’s higher solar potential, flat surface, and proximity to electrical infrastructure (Adeh et al., 2019; Katkar et al., 2021; U.S. Department of Energy, 2023). The solar future study projected that about 10.3 million acres (41,683 km2) of land would be required for the large-scale electrification and decarbonization of buildings and transportation (Heath et al., 2022). This creates land-use competition between solar energy development and agricultural production, causes community opposition, and delays the development of projects. Collocating solar panels with crops—agrivoltaics (AVs)—is an innovative approach to minimize this competition (Macknick et al., 2022; Pascaris et al., 2022) and increase the efficiency of cropland use (Gomez-Casanovas et al., 2023) while reducing community opposition to traditional solar energy projects (Pascaris et al., 2021).

Suggested Citation

  • Mishra, Bijesh & Miao, Ruiqing & Musa, Ngbede & Brothers, Dennis & Khanna, Madhu & Rabinowitz, Adam N. & Mwebaze, Paul & McCall, James, 2025. "Specialty Crop Agrivoltaics in the Southeastern USA: Profitability and the Role of Rural Energy for America Program," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 40(1), February.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaeach:350119
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.350119
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