Beyond Solar Farms: A Case Study of the Motivations, Challenges, and Benefits Associated With Developing Agrivoltaics at Jack's Solar Garden

Abstract

Solar energy is an integral part of an energy transition in the United States from a portfolio comprised primarily of fossil fuels to one led by renewable sources. However, growing social opposition to the development of solar energy facilities threatens to significantly delay, if not derail, an energy transition to renewable sources. Agrivoltaics, the co-production of agriculture and solar energy on the same plot of land, is an increasingly proposed solution for social opposition to solar energy. Despite the rapidly increasing development of agrivoltaic projects in the United States, there is a dearth of applied social science research into the motivations, challenges, and benefits associated with crop-based agrivoltaic systems. Drawing on rural geographic traditions of studying the changing uses and values of the rural landscape, this thesis addresses this key gap in social science agrivoltaics literature by using a case study of Jack’s Solar Garden, a crop-based agrivoltaic site in Colorado. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach including interviews, content analysis, and media analysis, this case study yields valuable insights into the range of motivations, challenges, and benefits associated with implementing and operating crop-based agrivoltaic systems. This research reveals how the development of an agrivoltaic system resulted in meaningful compromise between a farmer wanting to install solar energy, and a local government seeking to preserve agriculture. Further, the development and operation of Jack’s Solar Garden highlights the importance of stakeholder collaboration and the wide range of on-farm and community benefits that may accrue from agrivoltaic systems. The thesis concludes with recommendations for further research.