Increased spacing between solar module rows boosts agrivoltaics viability

U.S. researchers developed a framework showing that wider spacing between solar PV rows can make agrivoltaic systems economically viable for large-scale mechanized farming. Their simulations in Colorado demonstrated that optimized row spacing maintains crop production while improving combined agricultural and energy revenues.

March 16, 2026 Lior Kahana

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From pv magazine Global

A research team led by the Colorado University has analyzed whether increasing the spacing between PV rows can make agrivoltaic systems economically viable for large-scale mechanized agriculture.

“The main contribution of our article is a framework to analyze the economics of wide row agrivoltaics,” corresponding author Brian Mirletz told pv magazine. “Prior work mostly focuses on agrivoltaics underneath the panels; we wanted to provide a way to explore this novel technique for integrating PV and agriculture. It could enable the scaling of this technology in a way that promotes energy affordability as well as continued at-scale mechanized agricultural production.”

However, Mirletz highlighted that the main limitations of the work are the assumption that one entity owns the land, owns the PV, and does the farming. “We are currently working on addressing this through the development of a model that considers those as separate entities to provide more flexibility in representing different ownership and leasing agreements,” he added. “We are also in the process of completing a more comprehensive study on the capital costs associated with agrivoltaics more broadly.”

The team’s framework first defines different PV row-spacing scenarios, thereby determining the installed PV capacity. The model then incorporates agricultural equipment constraints specific to the chosen crop and, with that, calculates crop revenues. At the same time, the PV model estimates electricity generation and the resulting electricity revenue from power sales under a power purchase agreement (PPA). The agricultural and energy revenues, along with system costs, are then used to calculate metrics such as net present value (NPV) and levelized cost of energy (LCOE).

Graphical abstractImage: National Laboratory of the Rockies, Agricultural Systems, CC BY 4.0

Demonstrating the framework, the team has simulated a 160-acre (64.75 ha) project in Colorado, installed on a square piece of land for 25 years. A utility-scale PV configuration was assumed, with panels mounted 1.2-1.5 m off the ground and rotating up to 50 degrees as they track the sun throughout the day. Fuor crop scenarios were considered: potatoes, which require 9.66 m of solar spacing for agricultural equipment; onions, with the same requirement; sugar beets, with a minimum spacing of 12.71 m; and wheat, with a spacing of 18.81 m.

The different spacing and crop scenarios were run with PPA prices ranging from $0/kWh to $0.07/kWh in increments of $0.0005, and open-air crop profit ranging from $-1,000 to $1,000 per acre in increments of $50. In addition, a sensitivity analysis examined the impact of Capex and tested different farm sizes ranging from 80 to 640 acres and geographic locations across 64 counties in Colorado.

“One thing that jumped out at us was the sensitivity of results to equipment size,” Mirletz said. “The breakeven points for each system cluster around the number of possible equipment passes such that, depending on the crop profits, a 5 ft (1.524 m) difference can change the PPA price required to break even by 5% or more. This gets even more complex when considering things like crop rotation.”

The analysis showed that, in some circumstances, wider-row agrivoltaic solutions that allow for continued mechanized crop production can provide economic benefits over a traditional utility-scale PV system.

For most crops examined, roughly $200/acre in agricultural profit justified spacing the panels to at least 9.662 m to accommodate agrivoltaic configurations versus PV-only configurations. Additionally, opportunities for increased agricultural revenue with agrivoltaic systems allow PV project economics to tolerate a wider range of Capex variability while remaining economically viable relative to PV-only configurations.

The results have appeared in “Spaced out: An economic framework to explore the impacts of PV panel spacing on large-scale farming in Colorado,” published in Agricultural Systems. Scientists from Colorado’s National Laboratory of the Rockies, Colorado State University, and Colorado Department of Agriculture have participated in the research.

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