Landowner conversations are a critical step in every utility-scale solar project. But when it comes to Agri-PV, where solar infrastructure and agriculture must co-exist on the same land, those conversations get more complex, and more consequential.
Agri-PV requires landowners to remain active stewards of their land. They aren’t just signing over access for 30 years; they’re agreeing to a partnership that impacts their livelihood, operations, and long-term land use. That means solar developers must approach landowner engagement differently, with clearer expectations, better visuals, and greater flexibility.
In this article, we explore what it really takes to navigate these conversations successfully. From anticipating common concerns to offering flexible lease terms, you’ll learn how to build trust, avoid costly misalignment, and lay the foundation for a successful Agri-PV partnership.
For a broader overview of the Agri-PV development landscape, visit our Agri-PV pillar page.
In traditional utility-scale solar, landowner conversations tend to follow a familiar pattern: discuss lease terms, confirm acreage, negotiate access, and finalize agreements. The developer takes control of the land, and farming operations typically cease.
Agri-PV flips that script.
Instead of replacing agricultural activity, Agri-PV is designed to preserve and even enhance it, often during and after construction. That makes the landowner a co-user of the site, not just a lessor. And it introduces a new layer of operational coordination that standard solar leases don’t have to contend with.
This shift means developers need to move from a transactional mindset to a collaborative one. Success is no longer measured by how quickly you close a lease, but by how well you align on land use, access, productivity, and expectations over time.
If you can’t answer a landowner’s question about grazing routes or machinery access, it could stall the deal, or derail it later. The stakes are higher, and so is the scrutiny.
Landowners considering Agri-PV are often optimistic about the potential for added income, but cautious about the risks to their land, crops, and farming operations. And rightly so, a dual-use solar project affects not just the landscape, but how the land functions season to season.
Below are four of the most common questions or objections developers face, and why addressing them clearly is essential to building trust and securing long-term cooperation.
This is often the first and most fundamental question. Landowners want to know whether their day-to-day agricultural operations can continue without disruption.
If your panel layout blocks machinery access or interferes with livestock movement, you’re not offering dual use, you’re offering restricted use. That distinction matters.
What to align on early:
Crops need sunlight, and landowners may worry that solar arrays will reduce their productivity. Even with shade-tolerant varieties, poor design can lead to cold spots, dry zones, or stunted growth.
What to align on early:
In Agri-PV, shared land use can create confusion over who does what, especially when it comes to vegetation control, access roads, and safety.
What to align on early:
Crops fail. Weather shifts. Landowners may be concerned about what happens if agricultural production under the panels doesn’t meet expectations. Do they lose income? Can the agreement be revisited?
What to align on early:
Agri-PV isn’t just a technical challenge, it’s a relationship challenge. Securing landowner support means going beyond the standard lease pitch and providing clarity, transparency, and real-world answers to practical questions.
Here’s how experienced developers are building trust and alignment from day one.
A verbal description of your layout isn’t enough. Landowners want to see how their land will look, how they’ll move through it, and what operations will be impacted.
Use annotated site plans, elevation views, and example photos from similar Agri-PV projects. Better yet, bring visuals to early conversations, not just to final negotiations.
Don’t just say the land can be farmed or grazed, explain how. If you’re proposing solar grazing, walk through the fencing strategy, grazing rotation, and animal care responsibilities. For crop-based systems, show where tractors will enter and turn, how panels are spaced for light, and what crops are compatible.
Specificity demonstrates you’ve thought through the practicalities and signals to landowners that their needs won’t be sidelined.
Agri-PV requires more give and take than traditional solar. A rigid 25-year lease that ignores seasonal shifts, crop cycles, or changing land needs is likely to raise red flags.
Where possible, offer lease terms that accommodate:
Flexibility builds goodwill, and often results in smoother long-term collaboration.
Landowners may have seen projects go wrong. They may have been approached by other developers. Don’t shy away from the tough questions, embrace them. Explain how your layout avoids the common pitfalls, or how your design platform helps you adapt if needed.
Being honest about what’s still uncertain, and what you’re doing to mitigate those risks, often earns more trust than making empty guarantees.
In Agri-PV development, how you present your plans is just as important as what you're proposing. Landowners often aren’t engineers or solar specialists, they’re farmers, ranchers, or land stewards with decades of hands-on experience. If they can’t picture how your system will work on their land, hesitation is inevitable.
This is where the right tools make all the difference.
With Glint Solar, developers can generate visual layouts that go beyond flat CAD files or vague PDFs. Our platform allows you to:
When landowners can see how their land will be used, and where they fit into that picture, trust builds naturally.
You can watch the full version of this free on-demand webinar here.
Early-stage conversations often surface important local knowledge: where the land floods in spring, which fields are better for grazing than crops, or which roads aren’t tractor-friendly. Traditional design tools make it hard to incorporate this feedback in real time.
Glint Solar’s collaborative interface lets you adapt layouts quickly, test alternatives, and bring updated visuals back to the conversation, sometimes within the same meeting.
Landowners value transparency, especially in projects that span decades. With Glint Solar, you can show how solar production and agricultural use are balanced from the start. That includes modeling crop-specific albedo, yield simulations, or regulatory exclusions, depending on your market.
These capabilities help turn what might feel like a risky bet into a data-backed, clearly visualized opportunity.
You can watch the full version of this free on-demand webinar here.
In markets like France and Germany, where Agri-PV is further along the maturity curve, developers are already adapting how they approach landowner relationships. While no two projects are the same, several common traits have emerged among those that move smoothly from concept to lease to construction.
Successful developers don’t treat the landowner conversation as a single step in the process. They initiate dialogue early, often before formal designs are complete, and use that time to listen, not just pitch.
Then, as the project evolves, they loop landowners back in with visual updates and schedule check-ins to maintain alignment. This builds confidence and reduces surprises.
Instead of viewing landowners as a hurdle to clear, experienced teams bring them into the process, asking for feedback on grazing plans, fencing preferences, or land preservation goals.
This collaborative posture often results in better designs and stronger partnerships, especially on long-term projects that span 20–30 years.
In newer Agri-PV markets, many landowners are encountering dual-use solar for the first time. Rather than oversell, strong developers provide educational resources: visual case studies, simulation outputs, photos of active sites, and introductions to other farmers already participating in Agri-PV.
This builds familiarity with the model, and helps overcome fear of the unknown.
No Agri-PV project is entirely free from trade-offs. But what matters most is how you navigate them. The most successful developers don’t pretend every question has a perfect answer, they demonstrate that they’ve thought about the issues, modeled the options, and are willing to collaborate on solutions.
In Agri-PV, landowner conversations are more than just a box to check, they’re a defining factor in whether your project gains traction or stalls indefinitely.
By approaching landowners as long-term partners, addressing concerns with clarity and specificity, and using tools that make your vision tangible, you can move beyond skepticism and into collaboration. And when landowners trust that the land will remain productive and accessible, they’re far more likely to support, and advocate for, your project.
Agri-PV isn’t just about where panels go. It’s about how energy and agriculture can share space successfully. The developers who recognize that, and engage landowners accordingly, will be the ones who lead in this growing segment.
Looking for more insights on evaluating land, managing risk, and designing dual-use layouts? Explore our full guide: Everything You Need to Know About Agri-PV for Utility-Scale Solar Projects.