Massachusetts put 832 solar panels on 10-foot stilts above cropland; then farmers planted broccoli beneath them

Land has historically been considered a matter of choice: either to use it for growing food or to use it as a location for solar power. However, from time to time, there appear projects that respectfully disregard this dichotomy. Czajkowski Farm in Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley is one such example. In fact, this small farm became quite symbolic of the practice and is finally gaining attention in American agriculture.

According to a U.S. Department of Energy feature, in July 2023, the installation of a 445 kW DC / 375 kW AC solar array by the solar development company Hyperion Systems LLC on the farm was completed. Around 832 solar panels were mounted at a height of 10 feet in order to let the rays penetrate to the broccoli field grown below. Besides broccoli, there are beets, tobacco, cabbage, corn silage, and others. The owner, Joe Czajkowski, a third-generation farmer managing around 400 acres, said, "It helps your cash flow, it makes your farm more viable, and I think it's better for the country and for the environment.” Such a practical approach is exactly why agrivoltaics deserve to be part of more conversations.

What even is agrivoltaics, and why does it matter?


It sounds like a term used for a graduate thesis paper, but the concept itself couldn't be more embarrassingly straightforward: just put up solar panels over and amongst the crops, have both the farm and the power grid benefit at the same time. Partial shading for the crops (and, yes, some crops do need partial shading to thrive), an additional source of income from energy production for the farmers, and clean energy for the grid, all without taking the land out of agricultural production.

And that's the key part of an increasingly troubling issue with the nation's move to clean energy. According to the DOE and NREL's Solar Futures Study, achieving 1 TW of solar capacity installations by 2035 may take about 5.7 million acres of land, which would account for less than 0.3% of the continental U.S., but is already enough to spark serious land usage issues, especially among farmers. That's where agrivoltaics come into play.

The Czajkowski Farm is not a happenstance. It is a product of policy, which has been evolving in Massachusetts over the past few years. In 2018, the introduction of the SMART Program supported agrivoltaic projects by ensuring designs that meet the viability of the farming process. Furthermore, the state's 2022 Climate Bill included the creation of an agrivoltaics commission to remove barriers to project development, and clarifications were made so qualifying agrivoltaic land retains its agricultural designation for property tax purposes.

Despite the efforts made, a 2025 Energy Policy article titled “Exploring the effects of policy on stakeholder adoption and deployment of agrivoltaics: A case study of Massachusetts,” showed that despite expansion, the policy constrains deployment through prescriptive operational requirements, liability concerns, and a heavy dependency on empirical data to determine project eligibility.

The science isn't just hopeful; it's holding up

This is the truly fascinating part. In 2024, a systematic review of 54 studies on the topic was published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. This research titled “Agrivoltaics, a promising new tool for electricity and food production: A systematic review” showed that agrivoltaics have the potential to increase water-use efficiency by 20–47%, reduce air and soil temperature by 1–4°С, and make crops more resilient, especially in areas suffering from water shortages.

Some crops, which require less sunlight, thrive under solar panels. In some very hot and dry environments, partial shade may decrease the stress caused to the crop, thus increasing its productivity. Such information is very valuable in the age of increasing heat and drought that prevails in the American Southwest and Midwest.

However, the science in question should be approached critically too. For example, light-dependent crops under a significant amount of shading will produce less yield. It turns out that all combinations of crops and panels may not work and, moreover, the findings of small-scale experiments do not always translate to a larger scale.

The movement is growing, but slowly

As of late 2024, there were more than 580 sites practicing agrivoltaics in the U.S., producing over 10 gigawatts of renewable energy. This is in the form of pollinator habitat, grazing land, and crop fields in states such as Alaska and Puerto Rico. As can be seen, the number increases every year, thanks partly to various Department of Energy (DOE) initiatives such as Foundational Agrivoltaic Research for Megawatt Scale (FARMS), which in 2022 financed six research projects designed to break through the barriers of megascale implementation.

However, the truth of the matter is that agrivoltaics constitute only a negligible portion of the total amount of solar power plants in the United States. Farmers' awareness of the technology is patchy, its implementation expenses remain high, and each state has its own regulations. Farmers like Joe Czajkowski, who has other agrivoltaic projects in mind and sees them as retirement income, are exceptions rather than the rule.

What this means for the younger generations

Agrivoltaics is a great idea for younger generations who are more concerned about Big Solar’s land-hungry footprint. This solution helps harness green energy without harming farmers, agriculture, and food production. Additionally, agrivoltaics can serve as an example of how the energy transition doesn’t mean an either/or dilemma for greens and farmers, two parties who have been sitting on opposite sides of the policy table for much too long.

“I don't get a pension. I have to save for it. If I do these three or four projects that we have in the pipeline, I'll get a pretty good stream of passive income that will help me as I get older and will help me pass the farm on to the next generation.” Czajkowski explained simply. This isn’t a talking point; this is a farmer doing the math. And the numbers keep getting more and more interesting.