A National Strategy for the Co-location of Solar and Agriculture

Abstract

Pollinators are crucial to the United States’ food supply and agricultural productivity, playing a key role in the size, health, and quality of a wide variety of harvests. Unfortunately, many pollinator species are in decline due to disease, ecosystem destruction, environmental factors, and other issues, hurting thousands of farms across the nation. At the same time, solar energy projects are expanding and agricultural-adjacent land is often a desirable location for solar arrays. Planting native vegetation and managing it in a way that is hospitable to pollinators can expand pollinator populations and improve the aesthetics of solar arrays. Recommendations to authorize the creation of a pollinator standard are provided within this best practice guide to provide a more robust set of site-specific guidelines for pollinator-friendly habitat installation and management. Future research and collaboration is needed within the utility-scale solar industry to expand the current scope of this pilot assessment.