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Soil health under solar panels

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March 11, 2025

^{Image courtesy of Jack’s Solar Garden.}

As solar farms become more widespread, you might be wondering how they affect soil health. In the Midwest, many solar developments are sited on agricultural land due to the ease of construction on vast acres of relatively flat terrain. 

If you’re a farmer, you understand the importance of healthy soils. The health of your soils is crucial for crop yield, ensuring that there is food in your community and money in your pockets. They also function as a sink for carbon that would otherwise exist in the atmosphere. 

Luckily, there is research showing that solar farms don’t harm soil health, and can actually improve soil quality in many instances!

• Solar farms can provide a much-needed break for farmland that has been in production for countless years. Conventional agriculture practices such as tillage and regular application of pesticides and fertilizers can lead to a reduction in soil organic matter. Organic matter is the key ingredient for healthy soils, and losing it means spending more money trying to make up the difference with fertilizers. 

• Solar panels provide shade to the soil underneath, which results in cooler temperatures with better water retention. Soils that can hold more water are less susceptible to runoff and erosion. The microclimate provided by the panels can also lead to an increased diversity of soil microbes. Microbial diversity can help with pest suppression and processing of organic matter.

• Native vegetation increases organic matter, decreases soil compaction, and provides a habitat for pollinators. Seeding native plants on solar farms is becoming common practice. There are even solar seed mixes with native plants chosen specifically for their shade tolerance. Penetration of the soil by plant roots creates increased pore space, which leads to less compaction of the soil. One Minnesota study found increases for all habitat and biodiversity measures at a solar farm planted with natives. Not only that, but the shade from the panels can delay the blooms of some plants and extend the window of pollination for nearby agricultural land.

• Building solar on farms doesn’t have to put a stop to agricultural production on the land! There is a growing field of “agrivoltaics”, the co-location of agriculture and solar (photovoltaics). The most common agrivoltaic practice is grazing sheep under solar panels. Solar farms with sheep grazing have seen improvements in organic matter up to 200% in less than seven years. Agrivoltaics can also include crop production. Crops like melons, pumpkins, grapes, lettuce, and broccoli have all been found to thrive on solar farms, and Purdue University is currently studying corn production under raised panels.

Most importantly, solar farms are not permanent. Leases with local farmers typically span 20 to 30 years. Think of it as a temporary “land bank”, giving the soil ample time to rest and develop a rich layer of organic matter topsoil. At the end of the lease period, solar land can be converted back to farmland that is more productive than it is today. 

Soil health matters to Indiana farmers, no matter whether they are leasing their land for solar deployment or installing solar themselves for their business use. Hundreds of Hoosier farms and rural small businesses are able to save money with solar energy, thanks to the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Got a moment? Help protect REAP by telling lawmakers how much you value programs like this.

Resources

• Remarkable agrivoltaic influence on soil moisture, micrometeorology and water-use efficiency
• 6,000 sheep will soon be grazing on 10,000 acres of Texas solar fields
• Insect community responses to habitat establishment at solar energy facilities in Minnesota, USA
• Modeling the ecosystem services of native vegetation management practices at solar energy facilities in the Midwestern United States
• Purdue agrivoltaic farming structures and software harvest solar power at lower cost and with minimal impact on crop yield
• InSPIRE Data Portal: academic literature on agrivoltaics