Agri-PV opens up land that would otherwise be unavailable. eases permitting by aligning with agricultural policies, and strengthens landowner relationships through shared use and long-term value.
But it also introduces new challenges like crop compatibility, grazing dynamics, equipment spacing, and stakeholder engagement, all of which require careful planning and smart design tools.
This guide is your complete introduction to Agri-PV for utility-scale projects. Whether you’re testing solar grazing or exploring more advanced crop-integrated layouts, you’ll learn:
Agri-PV refers to the simultaneous use of land for both agriculture and photovoltaic generation. Rather than competing for land, this dual-use model allows solar developers and farmers to collaborate, maximizing land productivity while supporting energy transition goals.
At its core, Agri-PV is about making better use of land by aligning energy production with ongoing agricultural activity. But not all Agri-PV systems are the same. There’s a wide spectrum of approaches, each with its own design implications, cost structures, and regulatory considerations.
Before we get into that though, let's look at why Agri-PV is becoming such a viable option.
Agri-PV isn’t just a novel concept, it’s fast becoming a strategic response to several converging pressures on solar project development. As land constraints tighten, community pushback grows, and policy frameworks evolve. Agri-PV offers developers a way to unlock more land, de-risk permitting, and build stronger local support.
Utility-scale solar projects need flat, buildable space that is ideally close to grid infrastructure. But competition for land is intensifying. Agricultural, conservation, and residential land uses often clash with solar development. Agri-PV allows developers to access parcels that would otherwise be off the table, enabling energy generation without displacing food production.
Governments across Europe, the UK, and the US are supporting Agri-PV through subsidies, pilot programs, and regulatory adjustments. In the EU, several Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms now explicitly support dual-use systems. France and Germany are leading the charge with large-scale pilots and national tenders favoring Agri-PV designs.
In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides strong financial backing for solar developments that incorporate environmental or agricultural co-benefits, positioning Agri-PV as a natural fit for developers pursuing tax credits and local approvals.
From local communities to landowners and permitting authorities, Agri-PV projects are often viewed more favorably than traditional solar farms. By preserving agricultural activity, developers can reduce perceived land-use conflicts and improve alignment with food security goals. This is particularly important in regions where rural communities are protective of farmland and skeptical of large-scale solar. Agri-PV shifts the narrative from land replacement to land enhancement.
Agri-PV can generate long-term economic benefits for both developers and landowners. Farmers may see increased income through lease agreements while maintaining productive land use. Developers can secure land more easily, shorten time-to-permit, and reduce risk of delays or rejection.
A study from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) estimates that using just 1% of Europe’s farmland for Agri-PV could yield 944 GW of solar capacity, far exceeding the EU’s 2030 targets. With proper design and execution, this isn’t just sustainable, it’s highly scalable.
In 2024, the global agri-voltaics market was valued at USD 4.59 billion and is expected to reach USD 5.13 billion in 2025. By 2034, it's expected to reach USD 13.88 billion.
France and Germany are two of the most active Agri-PV markets globally.
The UK is still in the early stages of defining its Agri-PV market and while solar grazing is well-established in the UK, crop-based Agri-PV lacks standardization and incentives. However, interest is growing, particularly as land access and permitting become harder to navigate for traditional solar farms.
The U.S. is showing strong policy support through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which rewards multi-benefit projects, including those with environmental and agricultural components. States like Massachusetts, Oregon, and Colorado have launched incentive programs or guidance for Agri-PV installations.
While much of the U.S. Agri-PV landscape is still experimental, solar grazing has already taken off in regions like the Northeast and Midwest. Crop-based Agri-PV is emerging in areas where water scarcity or farmland protection is a concern.
Agri-PV is evolving rapidly, but one trend is clear: wherever land is scarce and policy is supportive, the model gains traction, particularly when developers can show tangible benefits for both energy and agriculture.
Before choosing the right Agri-PV model, it’s critical to understand what makes a site suitable in the first place. Unlike traditional utility-scale solar, dual-use development introduces a second layer of constraints: the land must remain productive for farming or grazing, not just solar generation. That means project success depends as much on agro-technical conditions as it does on irradiance and grid proximity.
In this section, we outline what developers need to assess early in the prospecting process — from drainage and soil health to machinery access and seasonal land use. These factors will shape not just feasibility, but also which system type (grazing or crop-based) is the better fit.
This is the simplest and most widely adopted form of Agri-PV. It involves allowing livestock, typically sheep or goats, to graze beneath and around solar panels. The benefits are clear:
Best suited for: Sites with existing livestock operations, projects needing quick approvals, or terrain unsuitable for crops
Crop-integrated systems are more complex and still evolving. These involve growing crops between or beneath elevated or widely spaced panels. The design must balance solar output with the light, water, and space needs of specific crops, often requiring input from agronomists.
Challenges to manage: Increased design costs, crop-light sensitivity, and more complex stakeholder communication
We cover these differences in more detail and give our take on the current policy developments across Europe in our latest webinar here, along with a live demo showcasing how you can use Glint Solar for your Agri-PV projects. Check it out below!
The answer depends on your land context, strategy, and timeline.
Unlike standard solar projects, Agri-PV asks landowners to remain co-users of their land.
From the very first conversation, it’s essential that developers approach landowners as long-term partners. Misalignment on how the land will be used, accessed, or managed can lead to breakdowns that derail the project entirely.
Want to navigate these conversations successfully? Check out our dedicated guide below!
The table below summarizes the core concerns landowners often have and what developers should be ready to address:
What works best:
Visuals > Verbal assurances
Most landowners aren’t engineers. Show them annotated layouts, elevation views, and land use overlays. Help them visualize how fencing, grazing paths, or tractor access will actually work.
Specificity matters
Don’t just say the land is “compatible with crops” — explain which ones, why, and how panel design supports that. If you’re planning solar grazing, clarify livestock type, stocking density, and who manages the animals.
Design flexibility
Structure leases to allow landowners to adapt their practices over time. This could include rotational grazing zones, seasonal crop trials, or co-managed maintenance roles.
Use feedback loops
Many landowners hold deep local knowledge about drainage patterns, soil quirks, or areas prone to flooding. Treat those insights as essential to the layout process, not afterthoughts.
Agri-PV offers major upside, but its success depends on how well developers navigate its unique challenges. Below are the most common pitfalls that cause Agri-PV projects to stall, along with ways to proactively manage them.
One of the most frequent issues is a mismatch between solar design and agricultural practicality. Panel spacing, height, and tilt might work for optimal energy generation, but if they limit machinery access or disrupt livestock movement, the agricultural side of the equation falls apart. This often results in late-stage redesigns, frustrated landowners, and extended timelines.
The solution is to approach design with dual use in mind from the start. That means evaluating layout options with both solar output and land productivity as equal priorities, not trade-offs. Collaboration with agronomic or livestock specialists early on can help avoid design missteps that are expensive to fix later.
How to de-risk: Use layout tools that let you simulate spacing, height, and tilt for agricultural use from day one. Involve agricultural stakeholders in early modeling, not just after engineering.
Traditional solar site evaluation doesn’t always account for the factors that matter most in Agri-PV. Soil composition, drainage, vegetation type, and light distribution across seasons can all influence whether a site is viable for crops or grazing. Overlooking these variables can lead to investing in sites that were never suitable to begin with.
To mitigate this, developers need access to more granular data earlier in the pipeline. Having tools that layer terrain, land use, and exclusion zones into one platform makes it easier to assess true site compatibility.
How to de-risk: Ensure your prospecting workflows include agro-technical layers such as crop suitability, historical land use, and surface hydrology. A multi-layer GIS view helps you qualify land more effectively and avoid false positives.
Even when landowners are open to Agri-PV in principle, projects can falter if their expectations aren’t carefully managed. Concerns around continued access, impact on yields, or unclear responsibilities during construction and operation can create tension. Misunderstandings like these are difficult to resolve once development is underway.
Success here comes down to transparency. Showing landowners what the layout will look like, how their land will be accessed, and what role they’ll play moving forward builds trust. It also gives you a chance to catch red flags before agreements are signed.
How to de-risk: Prioritize visual communication. Export design maps, produce dual-use overlays, and prepare shareable reports that clarify what’s being proposed. Build co-design into your engagement process.
Agri-PV is still new territory in many markets. Inconsistent definitions and evolving standards make it harder to predict permitting timelines or approval criteria. This is especially true for crop-based systems, which often face more scrutiny from regulatory bodies.
The best way forward is to stay informed. Engage with local policy developments, reference existing pilot projects, and use terminology aligned with regional frameworks. This shows permitting authorities that your project is grounded in existing precedent, not experimentation.
How to de-risk: Stay updated on policy frameworks in your market (e.g., France’s TOSS regulations, EU CAP criteria, US IRA provisions). Reference existing pilot projects and provide detailed justification for layout and use types.
Resource Bottlenecks in Early Stages
Agri-PV feasibility tends to involve more stakeholders, more design iterations, and more external input than traditional PV. Without a clear workflow, teams can burn significant hours before even reaching the permitting stage.
What helps is equipping business development teams with the ability to run initial evaluations independently. When early-stage design and data analysis are centralized in one tool, you reduce engineering backlogs and free up your specialists to focus on high-priority projects.
How to de-risk: Equip business development teams with self-serve tools for initial layout testing, constraint mapping, and stakeholder-ready visuals. Empower them to qualify and iterate without engineering dependency.
By tackling these challenges early and building a repeatable, data-driven approach, developers can move through Agri-PV development with more confidence, and a much higher success rate.
Agri-PV introduces a higher bar for site evaluation, design accuracy, and stakeholder collaboration. From understanding pasture viability to ensuring regulatory compliance, developers can’t rely on conventional prospecting tools alone.
Glint Solar helps streamline these early-phase complexities by centralizing solar, agricultural, and permitting considerations in one collaborative platform — with features tailored to how Agri-PV developers actually work.
Early-stage Agri-PV projects often fail because of incomplete data, misaligned assumptions, or a lack of visibility into land constraints. With Glint, developers can:
You can watch the full version of this free on-demand webinar here.
Agri-PV design isn’t just about layout density or MW output — it’s about ensuring the land remains functional for grazing or cropping throughout the project’s lifespan.
Glint enables developers to:
You can watch the full version of this free on-demand webinar here.
You can watch the full version of this free on-demand webinar here.
Agri-PV hinges on landowner buy-in. Glint helps turn assumptions into conversations — fast:
You can watch the full version of this free on-demand webinar here.
As land pressures intensify and policy incentives align, developers who treat Agri-PV as a core part of their pipeline will be positioned to lead.
Governments across Europe and North America are actively refining what qualifies as Agri-PV. In France and Germany, pilot programs are informing national tenders and compliance guidelines. In the U.S., the Inflation Reduction Act offers enhanced tax incentives for dual-use projects.
As definitions solidify and incentives grow, permitting timelines should become more predictable — especially for projects that include measurable agricultural value.
Developers now have access to systems that weren’t feasible just a few years ago:
Expect even more innovation in racking design, crop compatibility modeling, and water usage optimization.
The future of Agri-PV is data-driven. Developers will increasingly simulate not just energy yield but also crop yield, soil temperature, and evapotranspiration rates under the panels. This supports better stakeholder conversations, more accurate financial models, and stronger ESG positioning.
Communities, landowners, and regulators are becoming more familiar with Agri-PV — and more discerning. Projects that lack clear agricultural co-benefits will face increased scrutiny. In contrast, those that demonstrate thoughtful land use, productive outcomes, and measurable impact will gain faster approvals and stronger community support.