Four Takeaways from 1,000 Miles of Colorado Agrivoltaics Conversations
Colorado is emerging as a national hotbed of agrivoltaics research, development, and deployment. As American Farmland Trust’s boots on the ground in the state, I’ve enjoyed representing the Smart Solar℠ program in and across my home state. This winter, we ramped up our outreach, meeting with agricultural producers, utility partners, and energy leaders to learn about the opportunities and challenges of integrating solar and agricultural production.
With support from the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration program, I joined food and energy systems expert Lilly Fink Shapiro on a 1,000-mile road trip around the state to hear from rural electric cooperatives, farmers, ranchers, and county officials. We hosted focus groups in Montrose, Durango, Alamosa, and Keenesburg, and participated in a workshop hosted by Colorado State University Extension and Agrisolar Consulting at Orchard Mesa Research Station in Grand Junction. I am grateful to all the farmers and community members who took time to meet, speak with us, and share their insights.
Reflecting on our road trip, here are my four key takeaways from these conversations about agrivoltaics and the role of rural electric cooperatives (REC) in supporting this approach to multi-benefit solar development:
Cost Matters In a moment of rising energy costs, keeping rates affordable is paramount for cooperatives. For agrivoltaics, any opportunity to address marginal cost differences compared to conventional solar helps. In order of preference, participants were interested in grants, tax credits, and below-market interest rate loans. Opt-in premium rates may also be an opportunity for co-ops to address the marginal cost difference and support local projects.
Time is Money Can agrivoltaics save on both? Farmers, utilities, developers, and county officials all see streamlined permitting for agrivoltaics as an opportunity to shorten development timelines, reduce development risk and elevate agricultural integration as a priority from the get-go. Technical assistance can be a key tool to support county staff with additional capacity and expertise to implement land use codes that enable agrivoltaics.
Capacity > Electrons Net metering programs have become less generous over time, reflecting the physical and economic realities of a grid increasingly flooded with cheap, mid-day electrons from solar. The economic viability of small-scale agrivoltaics can be improved by increasing the on-site utilization of the power, such as through investments in on-farm processing, equipment electrification, and energy storage.
Communities Drive Innovation Every electric cooperative and the community they serve is different – as we heard in our interviews, “if you’ve met one co-op, you’ve met one co-op.” What every co-op has in common is that they are member-owned and chartered to be responsive to their communities. Agrivoltaics is a unique opportunity for common ground between agricultural communities, economic development advocates, and renewable energy developers. Done right, agrivoltaics is a win-win strategy that RECs can advance if communities speak up in support of projects.
One of the highlights of our road trip was a stop in the Grand Valley, where we toured two of the newest agrivoltaics projects in Colorado – CSU’s Orchard Mesa Vineyard Agrivoltaics project and Talbott Farms’ peach orchard agrivoltaic project. Both projects are fascinating, novel agrivoltaics projects for their own reasons. To my knowledge, CSU’s project is the first U.S. vineyard agrivoltaics project to feature either elevated single-axis tracking or semi-transparent solar modules. The Talbott Farms project is the first U.S.-based commercial scale fruit orchard agrivoltaics project, and Charlie Talbott has been an outspoken advocate on the potential agronomic benefits of agrivoltaics.
I look forward to learning more from these projects as they go through their first growing seasons. AFT’s Smart Solar team looks forward to sharing our Agrivoltaics in Colorado report in coming weeks to highlight challenges and opportunities for future agrivoltaics deployment in the state. To see the reports we produced last year, with prior funding from CDA and Walton Family Foundation, please see Farmer and Rancher Perspectives on Agrivoltaics in Colorado on AFT’s Farmland Information Center.
