Blue State Steps Up To Save Farmers With Solar Power

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It’s been a tough year for US farmers, with no relief in sight, especially now that the US Department of Agriculture has excluded solar panels from it loan programs. Nevertheless, some states have stepped up the breach. Among them is New Jersey, which has just launched a first-of-its-kind pilot program aiming to demonstrate that solar power can provide farmers with a reliable new revenue stream while they continue to farm the same land.

The Dual-Use Solar Power Movement Is Growing

Conventional ground-mounted solar arrays are designed with closely spaced panels, effectively removing the land below from other uses. Dual-use is a more recent phenomenon. Also called agrivoltaics, agri-solar, or agri-PV, the aim of dual-use is to maximize land use efficiency with a combination of solar power and farming.

Early adopters in the agrivoltaic field have concentrated on solar arrays that allow room for habitat restoration and biodiversity, benefiting nearby crops with healthy pollinator populations while also creating new business opportunities for local beekeepers.

The solar grazing movement has added another, more direct dual-use dimension. With an initial focus on sheep, solar grazing provides new grazing opportunities for livestock farmers while offering solar developers a cost-cutting alternative to diesel-fueled mowing equipment. Those mowing expenses can add up, as vegetation management is among the largest ongoing costs for solar power plants. Advocates for solar grazing also point out that sheep are a more effective tool for reaching into tight areas underneath solar panels.

In addition, sheep and other livestock help build soil health by contributing nutrients and tamping seeds into the ground. As a reciprocal benefit, studies show that the partially shaded environment of solar panels helps improve the quality of fodder for the sheep, leading to a healthier flock.

Growing food for humans within a solar array is a next-level endeavor up the dual-use ladder. The tricky part is balancing the value gained from solar power against the value of crops that could be grown in the same space. It’s similar to the calculation used by farmers when determining whether to plant two crops in separate fields or combined them in one field.

While the research is beginning to show that a carefully planned agrivoltaic project can maximize land use efficiency compared to separating a solar array from crops, farmers need to see more evidence before they adopt dual-use on a broad scale.

The land use angle is particularly important for farmers in New Jersey, where the average size of farms is small, and getting smaller. The latest agricultural census reveals that the state has gained farms since 2017, to reach almost 10,000 by 2024. However, during the same period, the total number of acres farmed dropped to 712,00 from 734,000.

Taking Dual-Use From Research To Practice

That’s where New Jersey’s new “Dual-Use Solar Energy Pilot Program” comes in. The three-year program is designed to encourage local farmers to adopt agrivoltaic strategies that have been researched and implemented at Rutgers University. In turn, participants in the pilot program will contribute to a knowledge-sharing platform based on their experiences in the rough and tumble world of commercial farming.

The new dual-use program crossed the CleanTechnica radar last year when it was still in the planning stages as a project of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities administered by Rutgers University.

Now the program is ready for launch. “The Dual-Use Pilot seeks to incorporate solar installations on designated farmland, also known as agrivoltaics – advancing a proven technology that will provide a new revenue stream for farmers across the Garden State and produce affordable in-state energy generation,” NJBPU announced on November 21.

“The Dual-Use Pilot will generate research results needed to inform a permanent program, which may include standards for construction and operation of dual-use projects,” BPU emphasized.

More Solar Power For New Jersey

Of course, the devil is in the details. Recruiting enough qualified applicants to hit the 200-megawatt goal is a chore unto itself. BPU takes note of multiple state incentive programs for solar power than can help defray the cost of a qualified dual-use project, but wading through the additional paperwork can be burdensome. BPU also advises farmers to consult a long list of FAQs about participating in the Dual-Use Pilot program before moving forward with the pre-qualification phase.

In addition, many farms in New Jersey are ineligible for on-site solar power, dual-use or not, under the state’s web of land conservation regulations. Some dual-use projects may be able to obtain a waiver, but BPU cautions that the waiver process is not part the Dual-Use Pilot program. Without a waver, parts of the Pinelands in South Jersey, the Highlands in North Jersey, and various designated Green Acres sites scattered around the state are among the lands excluded from the Dual-Use Pilot.

Despite the hurdles, as of August 26, the Dual-Use program pre-qualified 28 projects to apply for the program. If they all apply and are approved, the program is off to a healthy start at almost 126 megawatts.

The jury will be in soon enough. The application period opens on January 14 and closes about six weeks later, on February 25.

What’s The Big Deal About Solar Power On Farms?

If all goes according to plan, lessons learned from the Dual-Use Pilot will be applied to many more farms in New Jersey, providing a significant new addition to the state’s growing roster of small, distributed solar power plants.

In terms of in-state renewable energy resources, distributed solar is one of the few cards that New Jersey has left to play. As a result of US President Donald Trump’s war on wind power, the state’s 11-gigawatt offshore wind goal is out of reach. Without those 11 gigawatts, New Jersey has little in the way of in-state power generation resources aside from nuclear energy and solar, with onshore wind and other renewables coming in a distant third.

Expanding the state’s nuclear fleet is an expensive proposition with a long timeline that fails to meet the need for more affordable power generation resources as quickly as possible. Solar can fill the gap in theory, but in reality solar development in New Jersey is limited by the small size of the state along with its dense development profile and land use restrictions.

That makes things difficult, but not impossible. As NJBPU points out, the total installed capacity of rooftop solar on homes and businesses in New Jersey now totals more than 5.2 gigawatts. “The solar industry supports approximately 7,000 jobs in the state and is the fastest and cheapest source of new energy generation to get onto the ground,” the agency emphasizes.

Solar developers are also finding space for utility-scale solar arrays on reservoirs and other water system infrastructure as well as brownfields and other industrially compromised sites. Gas station solar, balcony solar, and other emerging trends can also help New Jersey and states like it continue to make progress on their renewable energy goals despite the ill winds blowing out of Washington, DC.

After all, the sun will keep shining long after the current occupant of the White House leaves office as scheduled on January 20, 2029 — peacefully this time, one hopes.

Photo: New Jersey is among the US states pursuing dual-use solar power (aka agrivoltaics) to help farmers keep farming while adding a reliable new source of revenue to their property (courtesy of NREL).