Farmers are warming up to agrivoltaics- the use of solar panels/arrays with grazing fields, crops, or other forms of agricultural activity. Researchers have found benefits of agrivoltaics include shade for animals and vegetation, helping to conserve water, as well as the vegetation beneath the array creating a cooling microclimate that improves solar conversion efficiency.
Agrivoltaics have gained the support of farmers as well as bipartisan officials with the introduction of the new Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Act of 2023 in the Senate, which directs the US Department of Agriculture to conduct research and reviews into agrivoltaics as well as support for farmers.
Read more specifics here: Agrivoltaics Is Making Friends Across Partisan Lines (cleantechnica.com)