From Fields to Photovoltaics: Effects of Agrisolar Co-Location on Food, Energy, Water, and Economic Security

Abstract

Achieving sustainable net-zero energy production requires understanding how solar PV installations affect the landscape and its critical resources. To enhance this understanding, we investigate agrisolar co-location, which is land that is broadly co-managed for agricultural production, solar photovoltaic electricity production, and ecosystem services. We present a food, energy, water, and economic impact analysis of agricultural output offset by agrisolar co-location for 925 arrays (2.53 GWp covering 39.3 km2) spanning the California Central Valley. We find that agrisolar co-location displaces a significant amount of food production. However, agrisolar co-location also increases economic security for farmers and likely enhances water sustainability, and thus future agricultural production, by reducing irrigation water use and facilitating the fallowing of irrigated land. Given the unprecedented pace of solar PV expansion globally, these results highlight the need for a deeper understanding of the multifaceted outcomes of agricultural and solar PV co-location decisions.