nav.hidden, nav ul [x-cloak], nav ul li ul { display: block !important; } This website requires Javascript for some parts to function properly. Your experience may vary.

New York Smart Solar℠

Through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York’s Renewable Energy goals have increased demand for land to site solar and wind projects, with farmland being the first-choice site for solar.

Research by AFT, the U.S. Department of Energy and Cornell University all found that approximately 80% of solar development will occur on farmland because it is typically flat, cleared, and close to transmission lines. Given existing pressure on New York’s farmland from low density residential development, or urban sprawl, AFT is invested in balancing renewable energy goals with keeping land in farming.

In New York, AFT is working with state agencies, legislators, a variety of partners – including land trusts and environmental groups, as well as some developers – to minimize the impact of solar development on productive farmland.

Exploring Agrivoltaics

One possible solution is farming with solar. As AFT has defined it, an agrivoltaic system is a ground-mounted photovoltaic solar energy system that has been intentionally planned and designed with agricultural producers or experts and is constructed and operated to achieve integrated and simultaneous production of both solar energy and marketable agricultural products—including crop production, grazing, and animal husbandry—on the land beneath and/or between rows of solar panels, as soon as agronomically feasible and optimal for the agricultural producer after the commercial solar operation date and continuing until decommissioning.

Agrivoltaics, if done right, can be a viability tool for farmers, diversifying income from the lease payment, producing energy and keeping the land in active agricultural production.
Farmers are asking for proof of concept, and AFT supports further research and demonstration projects to show how agrivoltaics can be a farm viability tool.