Incentivizing Agrivoltaics to Improve Farmland Resiliency and Meet Renewable Energy Demands in Indiana

Abstract

As Indiana looks to the future, it must balance the long-term success of its large agricultural sector with the need to increase renewable energy production and combat climate change. Often these goals seem to conflict with one another, but agrivoltaics – the dual use of land for active agricultural use and solar farming – is one technology uniquely situated to address these competing interests. However, current policies do not explicitly consider agrivoltaic systems and are ill-suited to spur further solar development in Indiana. Therefore, we propose amending Indiana Code § 6-1.1-8 to establish a preferential land use assessment program for a new “dual-use solar” land type code. Such a change would initiate investment in agrivoltaics technology and incentivize farmland preservation in the solar energy sector.