Thu, 11 Sep 2025

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 Will farming under solar panels take off?

Farming under solar panels is still in the early stages in India, but will it catch on?

* A Delhi-based farmer, Harpal Dagar, has seen his income triple after partnering with a solar power firm called Sun Master.
* The firm built solar panels above some of Dagar's fields, allowing him to continue farming underneath and receive annual payments from the electricity generated.
* Under the 25-year deal, Dagar receives around $1,200 (£900) per acre, per year, plus $170 a month for work operating and maintaining the solar panels.
* India is considered well-suited for agrivoltaics, which involves placing solar panels above crops to generate power while still allowing farming underneath.
* However, take-up has been slow, with only around 40 projects operating in India at present, according to the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI).
* Challenges include finding the right crop types that can thrive under solar panels and dealing with higher installation costs compared to traditional ground-mounted solar farms.
* The government is being urged to step in with subsidies to make agrivoltaics more attractive for farmers and developers.
* SunSeed, a company specializing in agrivoltaics, offers multiple options to farmers, including continuing to farm for a fixed salary or handing over all farming responsibility to the company.
* Agrivoltaics has been shown to reduce irrigation needs, shield crops from heat stress, and stabilize incomes by diversifying revenue streams for farmers.
* The model is seen as particularly promising in rain-fed and climate-vulnerable regions, where it can play a vital role in climate adaptation and making agriculture more resilient to unpredictable weather patterns.
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