Can Agriculture and Solar Co-Exist? Exploring the Promise and Challenge of Agrivoltaics - National Agricultural Law Center

Can Agriculture and Solar Co-Exist?

Exploring the Promise and Challenge of Agrivoltaics

You will learn:

Federal, state, and local governments advance policies to increase the percentage of United States energy demand supplied by renewable energy. One key area of renewable energy development is solar energy, which often results in large-scale solar panel projects placed onto the agricultural lands. While the benefits of solar energy can be promising, there is a natural tension between whether agricultural lands remain in agricultural production or are devoted to solar development. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, agrivoltaics, “the co-location of solar energy installations and agriculture beneath or between rows of photovoltaic panels – has the potential to help ease this land-use conflict.” This webinar discusses key principles of agrivoltaics, including the impact of agrivoltaics on the type of agricultural production at issue, agricultural infrastructure needs and potential economic benefits to the community. Through examples and discussion of best regulatory practices and related policy and legal issues, this webinar seeks to inform the discussion of how agricultural production and solar development coexist.

Event Details:

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Noon – 1 p.m. (EDT)

11 a.m. – Noon (CDT)

You will hear:

Peggy Kirk Hall is an Associate Professor in Agricultural & Resource Law at The Ohio State University and a partner with the National Agricultural Law Center.  She is a member of OSU’s Farm Office, directs OSU Extension’s Agricultural & Resource Law Program and is the author of the Ohio Agricultural Law Blog.    Hall teaches Agribusiness Law in the College of Food, Agricultural & Environmental Sciences and has served as President of the American Agricultural Law Association and Chair of the Ohio State Bar Association Agricultural Law Committee.

Jesse Richardson is a Professor of Law and the Lead Land Use Attorney at the Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic at the West Virginia University College of Law where his research and experience focuses on agricultural law, land use law, and water law. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Tech and J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.  Jesse serves on the Board of the Water Well Trust, is past President of the American Agricultural Law Association and has served on the Virginia Water Policy Technical Advisory Committee and on the boards of the Universities Council on Water Resources, National Cave and Karst Research Institute, and Virginia Cave Board.

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