In 2024, Cornell researchers grew radishes and radicchio between solar panels near Albany; shade reduced light and crop biomass, with radishes more affected

Imagine rows of gleaming solar panels interspersed with rows of radishes and leafy radicchio crops. It appears to be a great way to solve a common American dilemma of how to produce the clean energy needed to power our grids without destroying the farmland that sustains us. Agrivoltaics, the dual use of land for farming and solar energy production, has been touted as the answer to this problem. However, a new study from Cornell University is beginning to doubt this.

According to a 2025 paper titled “Environmental controls of suppressed fall crop productivity in an agrivoltaic solar array,” published in the journal Environmental Research: Food Systems, researchers at a solar farm near Albany, New York, planted radish and radicchio crops between rows of solar panels during the fall of 2024. The results showed that the amount of light reaching the plants was reduced by approximately 25% due to the shading of the panels, whilst the total plant biomass was reduced by nearly half. This makes the findings relevant to countries that are keen to deploy solar as quickly as possible to meet their climate goals.

Shading reduces productivity


Any person who has ever considered solar farms as community gardens will now know that shading can dramatically affect crop performance. The reduction in light caused by solar panels means that the temperature of the air around the leaves also drops, which slows the physical rate of photosynthesis itself: with less light energy and lower heat available, the plants simply cannot absorb and convert as much carbon dioxide into growth.

Radishes were the most affected by the reduction in light. As they store their energy in their edible roots, the plants would divert energy towards their leaves to try to absorb as much of the limited light as possible, reducing energy in their roots. Radicchio, a leafy crop that stores its energy above ground, was only slightly less affected by the shading. Researchers were careful to note that this drop in yield wasn't a sign of anything wrong with the plants' own photosynthetic machinery; their cellular processes functioned normally. The shortfall came entirely from the reduced light and heat available to drive those processes in the first place, a combination made more pronounced by the Northeast's already-dim, cool fall conditions.

Why this matters more in the US than you’d think

The United States has seen an over two-fold increase in agrivoltaics since 2020: over 27,000 acres became 62,000 acres of dual-use land, according to data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s InSPIRE project. This has put pressure on solar developers to prove that solar panels can be deployed alongside crops. New York State alone already hosts over 9,000 acres of solar panels installations, adding to that pressure.

Homeowners, and future farmers are faced with a dilemma about making sure our grid can decarbonise. A problem this study shows is that agrivoltaics, while it may not be a complete failure, does create a loss in efficiency due to the trade-off of using the land for dual purposes.

Agrivoltaics is not doomed

However, the researchers are not suggesting that people should give up. They suggest planting crops earlier and harvesting later. They also suggest spreading the panels farther apart to let more light and equipment through, an approach some solar installations in Europe are already pairing with sun-tracking panels that pivot to let more light reach the crops beneath them. The researchers are currently testing crops that can be planted in the spring and summer. These include strawberries, raspberries, zucchinis, peppers, soya beans, and more. They’ve had more promising results.

Overall, agrivoltaics is an engineering approach rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. If the United States wants solar farms that actually help feed people, the arrangement of panels, choice of crops, and time of planting must all be engineered around biology. This may be an interesting point to note to the next generation who will be consuming the fruits (literally) of our climate decisions today.