Solar Farm Summit

Save the dates for the 2025 Solar Farm Summit! North America's 1st dedicated dual-use development conference and agrivoltaics exhibition will dig even deeper into the essential solar energy and agriculture nexus during its 3rd supersized installment coming to Chicago's lakeshore August 4-7 at McCormick Place!! 2025 Solar Farm Summit attendees will enjoy another difference-making experience over 4 days of instructive and inspiring dual-use development programming with an enhanced and deeply immersive expo! Join us next August to plug into an uncommonly constructive community and discover an enriching and substance-first environment purpose-built to support peer-to-peer learning, showcase applied knowledge, speed adoption of best practices, cultivate good policy, and catalyze the ultimate construction of these ultra-productive solar farms unto ubiquity across North America and beyond. SFS25’s syllabus-style program will feature 100+ of today’s foremost experts taking up the full spectrum of working AgPV knowledge from entry-level agriculture, energy, agribusiness and solar development basics up to detailed case studies and project examples, technology demos, policy discussions, government program workshops, grants and financing seminars, as well as open town halls, Q&A forums, on-site technical assistance and off-site mobile tours! Special thanks to returning Title Sponsor American Farmland Trust! Visit the Solar Farm Summit website to access the conference archives, agrivoltaics index, job boards, blog and more: https://lnkd.in/gSZYgj8w Stay tuned for much, much more coming soon by following us here or subscribing to our emails on the SFS website!! #solar #energy #agriculture #farm #farming #solarfarming #solargrazing #agrivoltaics #ecovoltaics #savethedate #futureisbright

"I know that many farmers are skeptical of agrivoltaics. They don’t want to go out and buy 15 and 20 foot wide equipment to farm strips of land in between panels. They don’t want to experiment with different crops. That’s fine. They are free to keep doing what they’ve been doing. But if you’re operating a small farm that’s struggling to remain viable, agrivoltaics might be exactly what you need to keep your farm strong and independent for the next generation." Read this powerful article from Illinois farmer and Champaign County Farm Bureau member Matt Riggs reposted on the SFS blog >> https://lnkd.in/g-puUT4Y #solar #farm #solarfarm #energy #agriculture #agrivoltaics #agribusiness #onfarmenergy

Don’t miss the latest episode of #SheepEmpire, featuring the #SolarFarmSummit’s Katie Meyer! Jess & Katie discuss the importance of conferences in disseminating #agrivoltaics lessons learned, cultivating the next generation of #solarfarmers & more. https://lnkd.in/gyv-eHHn #VirginiaSolarSummit #VASolarSummit #SFS25 #solarfarmer #solarrancher

It’s no secret that farmers and ranchers have been hit hard by disruptive events in recent months, including the loss or delay of federal funding. That’s why we’re raising money to provide $10,000 grants to those affected through our Brighter Future Fund Emergency Resilience Grant program. EVERY DOLLAR donated will go DIRECTLY to farmers and ranchers. Our goal is to help at least 200 farmers and ranchers. Can you help us reach that goal? ?? Donate here: https://lnkd.in/e8Cyb6ex ?? Can’t donate? Sharing this fundraiser will go a long way!

Have ewe heard the news? ?? We are using sheep as an alternative to traditional mowing equipment on our solar farms. Solar grazing is a clean form of vegetation management and diversifies income opportunities for farmers. Learn more about our woolly workers and how they are creating sustainable solutions. >> https://bit.ly/4bKy24R

?? Task 13 has published a new report: "Dual Land Use for Agriculture and Solar Power Production: Overview and Performance of Agrivoltaic Systems" This report provides a detailed analysis of agrivoltaic systems, exploring their technical performance, modelling approaches, and operational challenges. By addressing these critical factors, it serves as a comprehensive guide to improving efficiency and ensuring transparent, replicable outcomes for agrivoltaic installations worldwide. Read the report to learn how agrivoltaics can combine agriculture with solar power generation in order to optimise land use. ?? Download the report: https://lnkd.in/eHhqp2gn #Agrivoltaics #SolarEnergy #RenewableEnergy #Sustainability #IEAPVPS

"I know that many farmers are skeptical of agrivoltaics. They don’t want to go out and buy 15 and 20 foot wide equipment to farm strips of land in between panels. They don’t want to experiment with different crops. That’s fine. They are free to keep doing what they’ve been doing. But if you’re operating a small farm that’s struggling to remain viable, agrivoltaics might be exactly what you need to keep your farm strong and independent for the next generation." Read this powerful article from Illinois farmer and Champaign County Farm Bureau member Matt Riggs reposted on the SFS blog >> https://lnkd.in/g-puUT4Y #solar #farm #solarfarm #energy #agriculture #agrivoltaics #agribusiness #onfarmenergy

We are delighted to announce we have partnered with the InSPIRE project to launch the inaugural Dual-Use Design Challenge–a collaborative student design competition cultivating innovation at the intersection of agriculture and solar energy! Open to students in K-12 and post-secondary education, this hands-on learning exercise encourages young minds across North America to take on real-world farming challenges and develop creative on-farm solutions. Whether through written proposals, 3D models, and/or illustrations, participants can submit in multiple formats to demonstrate their ideas for what, where and how solar technology can coexist with crop production, livestock management and/or conservation–and deliver important co-benefits to rural communities and local food systems. Finalists and winning projects will be recognized at the 2025 Solar Farm Summit, August 4-7 at McCormick Place in Chicago, where students will have the opportunity to showcase their ideas to industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers. Details regarding cash prizes, travel scholarships, awards and a webinar are forthcoming. Know a student or educator who may be interested in participating? Please forward this opportunity on! Educators and parents are encouraged to support students in their participation, with resources and guidance available through the official Student Design Challenge website here >> https://lnkd.in/garx8vte Read the Outreach Letter here >> https://lnkd.in/gR8B76HC Access the Educator Guide here >> https://lnkd.in/gW_hyurS Find the Design Challenges, Prompts, and Resources here >> https://lnkd.in/gzUuMc7Y #education #studentdesign #designcompetition #agriculture #farm #farming #solar #energy #solarfarm #solarfarming #agrivoltaics #ecovoltaics #conservation #innovation #STEM #4H #FFA

Join us for a free webinar on March 31 at 11AM ET surveying Virginia’s place in the new global energy race, taking stock of promising agrivoltaics harvests all around the world, and looking ahead to the robust program coming to the 2025 Virginia Solar Summit! If you feel disoriented by the recent storm of developments and crosswinds of news, you won’t want to miss this guided tour with VSS Executive Producer Dan French walking through his current view of the macro dynamics making waves in global energy markets and giving a sweeping world tour of breakthrough farming + solar projects boosting agriculture in Europe, China, Japan, and, increasingly, the U.S. >> https://lnkd.in/gEY7gite Beyond producing electricity, solar can do more. A lot more. When developed with agriculture or conservation in mind, solar can do things otherwise hard or impossible to achieve. Solar can save farms, start farms, diversify production, preserve and protect land, create habitat and enhance biodiversity, and revitalize rural communities. It already is, here and there, but agrivoltaics is ready to scale to new heights of productivity without having to make hard land use compromises. Virginia needs all the energy it can get, but it needs the broad cornucopia of homegrown benefits that agrivoltaics can cultivate in fields all across the region just as much, if not more. After all, solar ‘pays where it lays’ and benefits local economies in ways baseload power cannot. And as pure agricultural value-add, agrivoltaics provides another order of local opportunity entirely. A French vineyard in Tresserre this fall, for example, harvested +60% more chardonnay grapes of better quality with less irrigation in its solar tracking trellis–consistent with similar recent results achieving more and better quality grapes under solar panels in Italy. Join us March 31 to see what the global buzz on both ends of the energy business is all about, and an exclusive first-look at ongoing research monitoring the incredible breakthroughs being achieved in the nexus of agriculture and energy all over the world! Webinar registration is FREE on Eventbrite here >> https://lnkd.in/gEY7gite Visit the Virginia Solar Summit website to learn more and registration for VSS25 returning to the magnificent Marriott Richmond April 28-30 here >> https://lnkd.in/gwzTkTy #solar #agriculture #energy #farm #farming #solarfarming #agrivoltaics #webinar #virginia

With over 1,000 acres of apples, the owner of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider and Stone Ridge Orchard is now considering solar panels — backed up by new research. “Agrivoltaics are the missing link in the whole system, because they allow growers to dual-crop, so to speak: harvest the sun and harvest plants or graze livestock under the panels,” says Elizabeth Ryan. “I’m super excited about this concept and see it as the next frontier.” This new study from Cornell University explores how solar installations can be tailored to different crops in New York, maximizing both energy production and agricultural yields. With the right approach, agrivoltaics can offer farmers additional revenue streams while supporting clean energy growth. Read more: https://buff.ly/UveEaCN #Agrivoltaics #SolarFarms #CleanEnergy #SustainableFarming #RenewableEnergy #NewYorkSolar #Solar #SolarEnergy #NY #NYFarms #Agriculture