The Piedmont Environmental Council in Loudoun County, Virginia, is turning a part of its community-sustaining land into an agrivoltaics farm.
According to Canary Media, the PEC received the land after residents teamed up to buy some open space. The land would've otherwise been used for a strip mall and housing developments.
Instead, it has become a home for cattle pasture and a nature preserve. The land also has space for a community farm that provides food for a local food pantry.
The PEC has now added 42 solar panels into the mix, helping to defy a trend that has developed in the area over the last several years.
According to Inside Climate News, solar project approval rates in Virginia have gone down. While 100% of projects were approved in 2016, only 50% were approved in 2024.
Misinformation has stopped solar projects from moving forward. As ICN noted, "erroneous reports that solar farms have drained acid rain onto fields" have warped ideas of what solar can do.
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Solar also takes up land that could be used for farming. Some farmers have been hesitant to support solar because of how it could threaten their livelihoods.
However, the PEC's use of agrivoltaics aims to change that. The council hopes to prove that farming and solar can thrive together.
Canary Media stated that, in response to public concern, the PEC will test the soil for contaminants. While its members don't anticipate that solar panels will harm the soil, they're testing to be transparent with the community.
This action could provide significant benefits to Virginians in Loudoun County. The project will provide fresh produce for the local community while generating 17 kilowatts of energy. It will also improve energy resiliency, with two batteries in place in case of a grid outage.
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I want panels 🏠 Initiatives like this reduce air pollution on multiple fronts. Growing produce locally means less air pollution is created in the process of packaging and transporting food. Meanwhile, utilizing solar energy for electricity means the community will rely less on dirty fuels that pollute the atmosphere.
Other organizations working on agrivoltaics include LAMBscaping, also based in Virginia, and the Swiss company Insolight.
The council will have data available as soon as this winter to start measuring this project's impact. But its members anticipate having to wait a year or two to know how much agrivoltaics will help the community.
The waiting process could actually help this initiative find a more intentional and sustainable footing.
As Teddy Pitsiokos, the community farm's manager, told Canary Media, "Like with all scientific experiments, slow is actually good."
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