About 600 US agrivoltaics operations were generating over 10 gigawatts in 2025, according to Sierra, and I consider the spinach
Diary of a Hedgerow Defender: Can Sheep Under Solar Panels Make Better Wool? Agrivoltaics Under the Microscope
About 600 US agrivoltaics operations were generating over 10 gigawatts in 2025, according to Sierra, and I consider the spinach
By Öko Angebot, naturalist and diarist
Wednesday, Frost on the Fence
Dear diary, I have been reading about agrivoltaics, and I must report that the word sounds like a medical complaint but is in fact a sheep story. Ian Rose in Sierra magazine describes it as a relatively new practice of combining solar energy and agriculture on the same land, with panels placed above and between crops or livestock pastures.
As a naturalist, I have strong feelings about both sheep and panels. Until today they were in different fields.
The Numbers
According to the article, as of 2025 about 600 US agrivoltaics operations were generating over 10 gigawatts, enough to supply at least 7.5 million homes, per the Center for Rural Affairs. Installations range from several dozen to thousands of panels, and depending on size they can power a single home or a small town.
I have no way to check these figures independently and I give them as reported.
Why Farmers Care
In 2025, roughly 15,000 US farms consolidated or closed, the article says. One industry survey found some farmers were offered annual solar lease payments of 1,000 dollars or more per acre. Some farmers lease land for large-scale renewable projects, which has caused conflicts with neighbours, and agrivoltaics is presented as an alternative.
The point is that land does two jobs. I admire anything that works two jobs.
The Spinach and the Sheep
Proponents say it can increase crop yields, lower irrigation costs and reduce erosion, the article says. Some plants, such as spinach, appear to do well in partial shade. One study found sheep grazing on an agrivoltaics plot produced higher-quality wool than sheep on a nearby traditional pasture.
I would like to meet this sheep. I would like to be told its secrets. The article says only that a study found this, and I have not seen the study.
The Opposition
The piece cites a Columbia University Sabin Center estimate that roughly one-third of solar and wind projects, including some agrivoltaics, were canceled due to local opposition, and a 2023 report that over 200 towns had banned or severely limited solar in agricultural areas. A Michigan Technological University survey found more than 80 percent of respondents would be more open to solar if it were combined with traditional farming.
That last figure is the most interesting. People accept the panel more readily when there is a cow under it.
The Tax Clock
The article says Inflation Reduction Act tax incentives for utility-scale solar are expected to expire in 2027. I do not understand American tax law, and I will not pretend that I do. The practical meaning is that the project clock is ticking.
Hedgerows teach patience. Tax credits do not.
What a Naturalist Worries About
My own concerns are for the wildlife in the margins. Panels over a pasture change shade, water and wind. The article does not discuss wildlife in detail, so I cannot say what happens to the lapwings, voles and hares. I would want to know.
I put this here as a question and not a complaint.
Night
A frost has come down on the fence. I have decided that I am in favour of agrivoltaics, provided the sheep are consulted. I have asked the neighbours’ sheep. They did not reply.
I will take that as a maybe.
Questions for the Farmer
If I could ask a farmer with panels in the field one question, it would be what the sheep think. If I could ask two, the second would be about the rent. The article says some farmers were offered annual solar lease payments of 1,000 dollars or more per acre, which is a number that concentrates the mind.
I would ask also about the grass. Shade changes what grows, and the article gives some plants a good report, spinach among them. I would like a report on the grass.
A Short Defence of Shade
Shade is underrated. A hedgerow gives shade, a tree gives shade, and a panel gives shade of a more expensive kind. The thing to ask is what the shade does for the ground, and I do not think the article settles it, nor does it claim to.
So I conclude that more study is needed, which is what naturalists always conclude, and why we are not invited to parties.
Homework
Field exercise: compare the three comic takes on the same overseas property story. Manila News, the London Prat (see https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and Bohiney each start from a recognisable market fact and wink at you through the exaggeration. Then find more at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try NewsBiscuit, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/