Agrivoltaics: Western New York

Imagining agrivoltaics: Farmer expectations for co-locating solar energy and agricultural production in Western New York

Science Direct | Kathryn Bills Walsh, Richard Stedman, and David Kay

July 2026

Abstract

The energy transition in the U.S. requires siting large-scale solar (LSS) facilities, some of which cover thousands of acres of mostly rural land. Accelerated siting processes for LSS projects have sometimes resulted in opposition over the potential loss of agricultural lands to solar facilities. Agrivoltaics (AV), or dual use of land for both solar energy and agricultural production, is a potential solution to land-use conflicts. However, very little information exists about expectations for AV among key agricultural stakeholders and how their expectations affect their interest in hosting AV projects. Grounded in the sociology of expectations and drawing on a set of four focus groups with agricultural producers and related stakeholders (n = 21) in Western New York, we explore agricultural producers' expectations for AV and what role expectations play in their interest in hosting AV projects. We find that negative expectations outweighed techno-optimism for AV. Producers shared negative economic expectations, concerns about overcomplication, and skepticism about earnest partnership with solar developers. Some producers expected AV to provide financial and environmental benefits to certain farm products. However, most often, expectations led to disinterest in AV or interest in AV with contingencies related to financial assurances and guarantees for site and design input with the developer. Prior experience with LSS development affected producers' expectations for AV, and the early stage of AV diffusion contributed to uncertainty. Our findings suggest that lessons learned from AV demonstration sites could help de-risk AV and reduce current levels of uncertainty, especially if paired with thoughtful community engagement.

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