Virginia agrivoltaics project powers farm and preserves farmland

The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) has launched a 42-panel agrivoltaics installation at its Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows in Virginia, designed to generate 100% of the farm’s electricity while maintaining active crop production between the panels.

• Project details and goals: The 42-panel agrivoltaics system powers all farm operations, integrates rows of vegetables between panels, includes battery storage, and is engineered as a farm-forward, easily replicable design for other farmers and urban/built environments; PEC will measure energy and crop output, test soils for PFAS and heavy metals, and publish plans for panel recycling and responsible decommissioning.
• Policy, grid and land-use context: PEC highlights that rising utility bills driven by data center demand increase the value of on-farm solar, and argues that widespread 1 MW agrivoltaic projects on Virginia’s 39,000 farms could yield 39 GW, exceeding current peak load in Dominion territory; the article stresses the need for easier local permitting and interconnection, protection of net metering, and expanded distributed generation and virtual power plant arrangements to reduce pressure on prime agricultural land and avoid building costly gas peaker plants.