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A growing number of rural landowners are hosting solar arrays to supplement their income, reduce energy costs, and support the transition to renewable energy. This increase in solar development in rural areas has led to concerns about farmland loss, especially when it comes to large-scale (5-25 acre) solar installations. Alex Roberts-Pierel, a project developer at ReVision Energy, says that when sited and installed responsibly, solar and farming can work well together.
In a land lease, farmland owners make a portion of their land available for hosting a solar array, which is owned and managed by a separate company. The landowner continues to own the property and receives predictable monthly payments throughout the lease term, helping them diversify their revenue stream, invest in their farm business, and keep the land in their family.
The land beneath the solar panels can continue being used for agriculture while generating electricity through evolving agrivoltaics practices like grazing sheep, growing crops, or beekeeping within the array. Take it from Michael Dennet, a sheep farmer who has grazed his sheep among many of ReVision’s municipal solar arrays: sheep love to relax in the shade solar panels provide during the summer.
Evelyn Norton, a second-generation Mainer whose family leased a small portion of their farmland to ReVision, describes the financial benefits best. “It takes the pressure off you. The taxes are covered and repairs to the buildings are covered. It gives us that security, that we can make different choices.”
Hosting a solar array is a temporary use of land that can support farmland access for future generations. Once the solar land lease is up and the project is decommissioned, the land can be reused for agriculture or other activities. The entire installation process, from construction to maintenance to decommissioning, is hands-off for the landowner. Alex describes these solar arrays as “quiet, environmentally friendly neighbors who go away after 30-35 years.”
Solar projects have minimal impact on land quality, and states require solar companies to work with civil and environmental engineers to make sure projects follow regulations that protect natural resources and minimize impact on the surrounding environment.
Property owners can restore solar installation sites to active farmland at the end of the project’s 30 – 35 year lifespan because:
The main point is that, unlike other types of development, solar installations are built to be temporary and easy to remove when they’re no longer in use.
When looking at the amount of space solar takes up in New England, the actual acreage is also minimal. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that Maine lost 82,000 acres of farmland between 2017 and 2022. Meanwhile, in looking at the Maine Governor’s Energy Office statistics on solar capacity, it is estimated the state had about 2,700 acres of solar installed over that same period – just 0.015% of Maine’s total land area. Even if all that solar was placed on farmland (which it wasn’t), it would only account for about 4% of the farmland loss. The remaining 96% comes from other causes. Relative to the permanent land impact of commercial and residential buildings, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces, the land footprint of solar projects is very small.
Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts all have decommissioning policies ensuring that once a large-scale ground-mount solar project reaches the end of its life, the project owner must remove the equipment and restore the land. Developers are often required to provide financial assurance (like bonds or letters of credit), so landowners and towns won’t be stuck with the cost of decommissioning if the array owner goes out of business. This assurance makes a solar land lease even more beneficial to landowners.
It’s important to note that ReVision supports an all-of-the-above approach to advance the renewable energy transition – maximizing rooftop space for solar while also thoughtfully siting community solar projects on greenfields. Disturbed and contaminated areas (like landfills, gravel pits, and brownfields) can also provide great opportunities for solar arrays. However, projects on these sites are typically more complicated and expensive to develop. The systems often require unique designs for complex conditions which drives up costs. The permitting process takes longer and costs more. And even if we could cover all those contaminated lands with solar panels, it still wouldn’t be enough to hit New England’s climate goals.
While some states have introduced legislation to protect farmland and promote contaminated site development, certain policies – like a recent one in Maine – unfairly target solar projects. This new rule imposes significant additional permitting burdens and fees when a landowner wants to host an array on certain types of farmlands. This measure effectively penalizes solar, while commercial developments that permanently alter the land (such as self-storage buildings) are not subject to these increased regulatory charges.
Lindsay Bourgoine, ReVision Energy’s Director of Policy and Government affairs says, “These rules sadly penalize farmers who seek to utilize a portion of their land for solar, and as we know, that revenue diversification can often enable the farmer to maintain operations.”
Instead of advancing such restrictions, Bourgoine advocates for policies that encourage solar development on both rooftops and contaminated lands while also respecting the property rights of farmland owners.
“Maine is taking big steps forward in advancing solar energy on contaminated lands, which is exciting,” she says, noting the state approved a ruling in August that prioritizes projects on such land, effectively balancing solar installations with responsible land use.
Achieving a livable future for our planet depends on meeting our climate goals, which involves a major expansion of renewable energy development. While we can prioritize rooftops and contaminated lands, our energy transition will require some greenfield development. Fortunately, solar projects can be designed and well-sited to work alongside agricultural land, helping landowners save on energy costs, diversify their income, and preserve their land for the future – all while driving forward the transition to renewable energy. As Alex puts it, “The best thing we can do is find responsible uses of land to build enough solar to make a difference.”
