What is Agrivoltaics?
Agrivoltaics (AgPV) is the intentional co-location of agriculture and solar energy systems on the same parcel of land. This may include:
- Livestock Grazing
- Crop Cultivation
- Conservation
Also known as "dual-use solar," agrivoltaics is an integrated and multifunctional practice where the goal is not simply to manage vegetation beneath photovoltaic solar panels, but to design projects in ways that harvest energy, agriculture, and/or conservation goods together and promote long-term stewardship, farm viability and land health.
Agrivoltaics is an emerging field bringing together agriculture, energy, and land stewardship, but there is already a generation of research and real-world examples of projects across the United States and beyond.
Explore the selected resources below and click through to the primary materials and prime movers at the forefront of agrivoltaics research, practice, and implementation.
Why AgPV in Oklahoma
Oklahoma's relationship with its land runs deep, and so does its uncertainty about solar. Agriculture supports nearly 200 times as many Oklahoma jobs as the solar industry does today, and the farmland-loss objection — the fear that a 25-year lease means 25 years of land taken out of production — sits at the center of nearly every contentious solar conversation in the state, from Garfield County to Wagoner County.
But agrivoltaics can completely resolve this "either/or" land use choice. Highly adaptable, agrivoltaic-enabled solar farms can be designed to function in ways advantageous to the wheat, forage, and grazing operations that already define much of agricultural Oklahoma.
While Oklahoma is blessed with abundant soil, sun and a strong agricultural tradition,it also faces real pressures from rapid economic growth, mounting global forces, and increasing on-farm challenges to agricultural production specifically and agribusiness in general. A perfect storm of economic growth, environmental constraints, agricultural difficulties, and solar deployment is converging in Oklahoma.
The case for agrivoltaics in Oklahoma is also, increasingly, a case for water conservation. In the Panhandle, where the Ogallala Aquifer has dropped more than 70 feet in some counties and researchers estimate only a few more decades of irrigation-supported agriculture at current rates, shade from solar panels can measurably reduce evaporation and irrigation demand—an important and unique opportunity to pair energy development with water conservation at scale.
Oklahoma's legislature recently created its first state-level solar permitting framework. Also in 2025, a companion bill established an Agrivoltaics Advisory Committee passed the same year—a clear sign that the state is actively deciding what "solar done right" could look like on Oklahoma soil.
While neither settled or decided, and with many implementing and project level details to come, putting it all together is exactly why the time is now to convene the Oklahoma Solar Summit!
New to agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics? Start here.
You can find many foundational resources on dual-use solar, land stewardship, and responsible ground-mount development. Our curated guide on our main SFS website links you through to established research, best practices, and practical frameworks relevant to Oklahoma’s energy and agricultural landscape.