Tell your state leaders to proactively support agrivoltaics!

A new consolidated data report from three years of state-supported agrivoltaics trials in France has found a wide range of benefits from farming amidst solar panels!

At an agrivoltaics trial in Amance in 2022, stress days for soybeans decreased by 75% as the shady solar panels helped keep water in the soil.

Crop yields at a project in Verdonnet in 2025 were 18% higher in agrivoltaic areas than in control areas.

The panels created a more temperate microclimate for the crops beneath, with average temperature reductions of 1.4 degrees Celsius on the hottest days and 2°C temperature increases on the coolest nights.

During the scorching 2025 summer heatwaves in France, cows rested under the shade of solar panels, and the arrays’ cooling effect reached as much as 7°C on extreme days, providing substantial protection compared to crops without agrivoltaic canopies.

“We have a year of data, and we’ve observed that during periods of intense heat, the tonnage of dry matter harvested under the canopy nearly doubled, thanks to a canopy specifically designed for agriculture.”

— Yoann Bizet, agrivoltaics farmer in Souleuvre-en-Bocage

And, of course, these crop-shielding solar arrays also generated clean power! French energy producer TSE is already expanding its agrivoltaics portfolio after these results.

Agrivoltaics is also taking off at a grassroots level across America! A National Renewable Energy Laboratory-supported mapping project, the InSPIRE Agrivoltaics Map, now catalogs over 630 total agrivoltaic sites in the USA.

Humanity is starting to realize that we can now set up an array of solar panels above almost any form of food production. Solar panels provide shade during hot days, which both directly shields what’s below from UV radiation and improves water retention in the soil. That benefits everything from sheep to sugarcane!

State leaders should actively encourage and incentivize all forms of agrivoltaics, from solar grazing to row crops to greenhouses to aquaculture. Policymakers can accelerate this epic win-win by spreading the word and ensuring fast-acting and supportive legal, regulatory, and permitting structures!

Tell your state leaders to proactively support agrivoltaics!