Emerging Agrivoltaic Regulatory Systems: A Review of Solar Grazing

Authors: Jessica Guarino & Tyler Swanson

Journal: Chicago-Kent Journal of Environmental & Energy Law

Published: November 2022

Abstract:

In recent years, tensions have grown in rural communities in response to rapid development of utility-scale solar energy production facilities over the proper use of rural land, particularly between agricultural and solar energy production. Ongoing land use tension between agriculture and solar energy production has motivated some landowners to co-locate solar panels and crops or livestock on the same plot of land in a process called agrivoltaics. The evolution of agrivoltaics from an experimental land use strategy to a viable diversification method for farmers necessitates an analysis of existing zoning laws, tax policies, and contractual agreements that farmers must abide by—and which may inhibit the full development of agrivoltaics into an industry. This article analyzes existing agrivoltaics policy by reviewing the history of how agricultural land use has shifted over time as well as by examining existing zoning and taxation laws for agrivoltaics. Further, this article applies the evidence analyzed to the rapidly growing practice of solar grazing, a subfield of agrivoltaics that involves farmers grazing sheep and other livestock on utility-scale solar energy facilities. The article reviews existing grazing contracts and best practices from adjacent grazing industries to offer regulatory insights for the developing agrivoltaics industry. The article concludes by positing further research questions and proposing legislative reforms that may provide a friendlier legal landscape for agrivoltaics and other dual-use operations at the nexus of agriculture and renewable energy.