The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that new wind and solar projects on agricultural land will not be eligible for its Rural Development Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, as US policy continues to shift against the PV sector.
In addition to the removal of eligibility for the business and industry programme, ground-mount PV systems larger than 50kW, or that “cannot document historical energy usage”, according to USDA, will no longer be eligible for a separate support scheme, the Rural Development Rural Energy for America Program Guaranteed Loan Program (REAP Guaranteed Loan Program).
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Under the former programme, renewable project developers could borrow up to US$10 million from the federal government to cover project installation costs. The latter programme allowed energy project developers working on agricultural land to apply for a federal loan covering up to 75% of the total project cost, with a grant available for renewable energy projects of as much as US$1 million.
“Our prime farmland should not be wasted and replaced with green new deal subsidised solar panels,” said secretary of agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, announcing the new policy in reference to the incorrect assumption that solar projects and agricultural land are mutually exclusive.
Figures from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that the US has more than 400 sites currently combining solar generation and animal habitats, with a further 200 sites combining solar panels and animal grazing.
“The land that feeds America should never be sacrificed for unreliable green energy experiments subsidized by taxpayer dollars,” added Wisconsin representative Tom Tiffany, whose comments suggest solar installations could cover a significant proportion of agricultural land.
A 2023 guide published on the Department of Energy website states that just 0.3% of US farmland is expected to incorporate solar energy by 2035.
Moreover, a 2024 study published by the USDA forecast that solar would require less than 10% of “previously disturbed” land, comprising developed land, quarries and gravel pits, landfills and other brownfield sites, to meet 2035 and 2050 decarbonisation models.
Elsewhere, in 2023, the European Commission reported that installing solar panels on just 1% of Europe’s agricultural land could add enough new renewable energy capacity to meet the entirety of the continent’s 2030 solar deployment goals.
Figures from NREL show that the US’ installed agrivoltaics (agriPV) capacity has grown considerably, from 4.5GW in 2020 to 10GW in 2024, and the removal of support schemes that lowered the capex hurdle for new agriPV projects is a blow to both the agriPV industry in particular, and US energy security in general.
