Designing for dual-use solar: An examination of the agrivoltaic policy landscape in the United States

Authors: Abe Macy, Tyler Swanson, Carrie Seay-Fleming, Andrea K. Gerlak, Greg A. Barron-Gafford

Journal: Energy Policy

Published: October 2025

Abstract:

Efforts to achieve a transition to a clean energy grid in the United States necessitate the development of a significant amount of land for solar energy, particularly in rural settings. However, as demand for solar energy grows, so too does local opposition that may threaten the realization of a clean energy transition. An increasingly popular solution for local opposition to solar energy in the United States is agrivoltaics, the dual use of land for both agricultural and solar energy production, and many states are crafting policy to support its development. However, the novel United States agrivoltaics policy landscape is underexplored in the literature. In this perspective, we conduct a policy review of the existing United States federal and state agrivoltaics policy landscape with the objective of establishing an agenda for future research. We organize existing agrivoltaic policies into a categorical archetypes of common policy approaches: pollinator-friendly scorecards, use value assessment laws, research funding programs, and feed-in tariff programs. We also discuss proposed federal legislation that, if enacted, would further expand the federal agrivoltaic policy landscape. We conclude by using the newly created agrivoltaic policy framework to establish three themes for future agrivoltaics policy research.