Agrivoltaics with row crops as a pathway to solar farming on cropland

Utility-scale solar expansion on Midwestern cropland in the US is intensifying food–energy land-use conflicts. Agrivoltaics, which co-locates solar panels with food/feed (row) crops, could ease community opposition by maintaining agricultural production while generating electricity. However, row-crop agrivoltaics remains difficult to scale because of yield tradeoffs, higher solar costs, and institutional barriers. Wider adoption will require new business models and community-centered land-use practices.