Description: Local governments across the country are adopting land-use plans and zoning regulations enabling dual-use approaches to solar power generation and agricultural production on a single site. Such dual-use initiatives are generally known as agrivoltaics or agrisolar, and combine solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation with continued agricultural production or native vegetation plantings under and around solar PV arrays.

General Information for Planners, County Supervisors, and Farmers
Interest in and research pertaining to dual-use solar power generation that allows continued agricultural production while minimizing impact to soil health and the environment have resulted in the production of several comprehensive guides. These include publications and websites created by the Department of Energy’s InSPIRE project, the AgriSolar Clearinghouse, Yale University, and many others. A brief summary of a few of these guides follow; see Additional Information below for links to more comprehensive information.

• The DOE funded InSPIRE project provides basic definitions, potential agrivoltaic configurations, and associated farming activities, as well as more technical information such as design options and implementation pathways. The InSPIRE website linked below is comprehensive and includes many resources such as an Agrivoltaics Primer, Financial Calculator, Data Portal (technical research papers), Map of Agrivoltaic sites in the U.S., The 5Cs Agrivoltaic Success Factors, and more.
• The AgriSolar Clearinghouse is a nationwide hub developed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology to connect businesses, landowners, and researchers with trusted resources to support the growth of co-located solar and sustainable agriculture.
• The Yale Center for Business and the Environment’s downloadable report Agrivoltaics: Producing Solar Energy While Protecting Farmland is written for a broad audience and examines how communities, solar developers, local leaders, and policymakers can effectively promote, support, and regulate agrivoltaic development.
• The American Planning Association (APA) created its Solar@Scale guidebook to help local government planners, politicians and development professionals understand the land-use planning process for large-scale solar, including agrivoltaics.

Model Ordinances
Many local zoning and renewable energy siting regulations supporting agrivoltaics are based on model ordinances or state-level legislation that guide development of solar PV on agricultural lands. The resulting land use plans and zoning regulations generally include guidance or stipulated restrictions and requirements for dual-use agrisolar or agrivoltaics projects. The objective of legally stipulated requirements and restrictions is often to preserve the agricultural capacity of the land and prevent type-conversion to a single industrial use (electric power generation). The requirements and restrictions vary from region to region and often include prohibition of or requirements for certain design features, construction methods, and ongoing agricultural practices. See the Links below for example ordinances.

Example land use ordinances for agrivoltatic or agrisolar installations:

• California’s Yolo County’s land-use ordinance Sec. 8-2. 1104 (established in 2011, amended in 2016 and 2020) is a policy that allows solar PV systems on lands zoned for agriculture with specifically defined requirements regarding the size of the solar system, its height, location, prevention of soil erosion, sedimentation, decommissioning, reclamation and revegetation.
• Boulder County’s Land Use Code amendment DC-18-0002 was approved and made effective in 2018, and a subsequent Special Land Use Review allowed solar panels to be introduced to the area that is now the largest agrivoltaic research site in the United States, a farm now known as Jack’s Solar Garden. Where ground mounted solar PV is proposed on areas larger than 0.5 acres, the land-use code requires an installation plan inclusive of best management practices to minimize soil disturbance and compaction. The code also requires an ongoing management plan with best practices for maintaining or improving the existing soil quality and agricultural integrity of the land after installation of PV arrays on more than 0.5 acres of agricultural land.
• In Iowa’s Linn County, code Section 107-117 (last updated in 2024) includes comprehensive requirements for protecting the well-being of the environment and community as well as requirements for PV array setbacks, height, and eventual decommissioning.
• Published in 2020, the Great Plains Institute has prepared state model ordinances for Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. These model ordinances provide guidance appropriate for different communities in each state. They include background introductory information as well as recommendations for Scope, Purpose, Definitions, requirements for solar as Permitted Accessory or Principal Uses, and other related requirements or restrictions.
• See the Agrisolar Policy Guide in the Links below for summaries and links to more example ordinances.

A growing body of research and multiple practical examples of dual-use installations of solar PV on agricultural lands confirm that farming and electricity generation can be compatible uses on a broader scale. However, just as soil characteristics, climate, and farming practices vary from region to region across the U.S., so too do the details and suitability of agrivoltaic developments, requiring area-specific plans and considerations for proper implementation. In many agricultural areas agrivoltaic projects are making farming more sustainable by providing practical benefits such as shade for workers, livestock, and crops as well as a second revenue stream for farmers and increased tax revenue to help sustain farmland economies. Use of model ordinances and thoughtfully adapted land-use regulations from other communities can help local governments enable dual-use agricultural production and solar power generation in their jurisdictions.

Goal: Expand local solar PV infrastructure while conserving farmland and generating ecological and financial benefits for rural communities