Relative Advantage

The degree to which agrivoltaics are perceived by participants to be advantageous to current practice was identified as important when considering adoption. While participants expressed that financial compensation for farmers is both necessary and attractive, they also spoke of other benefits they anticipate as a result of engaging with the agrivoltaic technology. Participants discussed potential marketing advantages:

*It's got a great story; it's got a wonderful marketing edge from that perspective. So, your advantage is a great story to tell from a marketing standpoint.*

*I think that's where you have a very unfair advantage for whoever would be doing this rabbit production, you might be getting paid for land maintenance and then have rabbits for free. So, your profitability could be way up or your price could be way lower because you wouldn't have land expenses. There's a lot of opportunity to create some advantage from a production standpoint. From that perspective they may sell better or have an [edge] in the marketplace because of that aspect.*

Another participant expressed other technical synergies when grazing animals underneath solar panels:

*I think it sounds like a great idea. It sounds like a great way to maintain, and not have to mow. I can see the panels providing shade and protection from the rain in a way that seems very valuable.*

Perceiving a multitude of potential benefits, participants speculated how the adoption of the agrivoltaic innovation could provide them benefits and competitive advantages in the marketplace. Foreseeing a unique opportunity to derive a revenue stream from land maintenance, some participants postulated that there were economic gains associated with combined solar and agriculture systems. Rogers' (1962) innovation characteristic, relative advantage, explains that innovations that are perceived to be superior to business as usual have higher potential for adoption. Participants described the relative advantage of agrivoltaics worthwhile, and thus identified this innovation characteristic as critical when considering the adoption of the innovation, suggesting that if an agrivoltaic system could provide an advantage to a farmer, the likelihood of adoption would be greater.

### *3.3. Compatibility with Current Practice*

A considerable opportunity for farmers in agrivoltaic projects is the potential for integration of the innovation into their current practice. Participants expressed disinterest in increased complications in their business, and rather actively seek ways to reduce labor through harnessing the synergies of innovative practices. The ease of integration and compatibility of solar with current production was frequently considered amongst participants, highlighting the opportunity to plan overlapping operations to increase farmer acceptance. The attractiveness of agrivoltaic integration was explained by two participants:

*Most of my exposure to this is from sheep, and I think that it's a great idea. For my own particular system, it would definitely reduce the amount of labor for one aspect of the system, which is moving the fencing. So, I'm all for it. I think it'd be a really nice mesh.*

*Alternative energy is expensive to people like us. But it's something that I guess, if it could be integrated into something I'm already doing and could potentially help protect the animals, or do whatever, and then also run the homestead, it's just another perk of having something like that. It's another reason to have it besides just having the electricity.*

As elucidated by participants, compatibility of the agrivoltaic innovation with current practice could reduce labor and create an incentive to engage in the technology. When considering the value of agrivoltaics to them personally, farmers offered calculated and context-dependent perspectives, making judgments on the benefits in terms of their own operation rather than speaking generally about dual-use solar systems. Speaking from a place of personal considerations and interests, participants revealed that there is a context-dependent nature of success for agrivoltaic projects. Reflecting their own practices, one participant stated:

*I've also heard them say in meetings the fact that we're going to farm soybeans underneath solar panels, which is just asinine. Like, it's not going to happen. The size of our equipment doesn't permit that kind of thing. Putting livestock under, kind of a grazing operation, seems to make sense.*

Compatibility with current practice not only includes size of equipment, but also scale of the farming operation, as explained by one participant:

*The work that would be involved with that, I think, or potentially having to hire someone to manage them, it would decrease our profit so much that it wouldn't make sense. I could see how that would be to someone's benefit though, but not at our scale.*

To justify the labor involved in engaging in an agrivoltaic project, farmers evaluated their own enterprise by mentally applying the innovation and determining the potential compatibilities. As suggested by participants, the benefits of agrivoltaics are noteworthy, but will only be fully realized if there is ease of integration into their current farming practice. Compatibility is an innovation characteristic defined by Rogers (1962) that explains the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be consistent with needs, norms and sociocultural values is decisive to potential adopters. The theme

of compatibility among most participants was viewed as an opportunity rather than a barrier for agrivoltaics, suggesting that the innovation's context-dependent nature provides flexibility and potential to leverage the solar system to derive synergistic benefits to compliment current farming practices.

### **4. Discussion: The Opportunities & Barriers for Agrivoltaic Di**ff**usion**

This research provides insight from the agricultural sector into the challenges and opportunities for farmer adoption of the agrivoltaic innovation. Results indicate that participants see potential benefits for themselves in combined solar and agriculture technology and identify barriers to adoption including desired certainty of long-term land productivity, market potential and just compensation, as well as the need for predesigned system flexibility to accommodate different scales of operation and adjustment to changing farming practice. The findings suggest that these barriers to adoption are not insurmountable and can be sufficiently addressed through prudent planning and mutually beneficial land agreements between solar and agriculture sector actors. Table 2 below organizes the identified barriers and opportunities to address them. All of the participants of this study assented to agrivoltaics as a synergistic and innovative approach to combined land-uses, while nine of the 10 participants who are currently active farmers stated they would engage in the use of a dual-use system given the discussed concerns are considered (four of the nine already are). Interviews with industry professionals informed the current state of diffusion of the agrivoltaic innovation and identified opportunities to further stimulate farmer adoption of the technology. These findings may be used to translate the potential of agrivoltaics to address the competition for land between solar PV and agriculture into changes in solar siting, farming practice and land-use decision-making.


**Table 2.** Barriers, opportunities, and directions for future work regarding the diffusion of agrivoltaics.


**Table 2.** *Cont*.

### *4.1. Di*ff*using the Agrivoltaic Innovation—Where Are We Now?*

The diffusion of innovations theory [28] identifies five stages in the process of technology adoption. Participants of this study predominantly fell into the decision or evaluation stage of adoption, which is understood as the stage in which an individual mentally applies an innovation to their present and perceived future circumstances to arrive at a decision to try it or not. Beyond the initial knowledge or interest stages of Rogers' adoption model [28], the majority of participants (six of 11) considered their potential adoption of agrivoltaics beneficial but dependent on factors related to context. Speaking from a place of receptivity, these participants saw value in the innovation and felt inclined to engage with it, while voicing a few concerns about compatibility with their practice and uncertainties about long-term land productivity. Four of the 11 participants were already functioning in the confirmation or adoption stage of the adoption process, making full use of the innovation. Based on these findings, it is observed that the current state of the diffusion of agrivoltaics is advancing towards wider implementation and has surpassed initial phases of information gathering and persuasion. Participants in the decision or evaluation stage of adoption identified barriers to their engagement with agrivoltaics, giving interested stakeholders the ability to directly respond to these concerns by improving the technology to enable further diffusion.

Further, most participants of this study were early majority adopters, characterized by wanting proven and reliable applications, reference from trusted peers and being prudent in financial risk and uncertainty. Rogers [28] asserts that an innovation must meet the needs of all categories of adopters, making clear in the context of agrivoltaic adoption where efforts should be focused to successfully move early majority adopters into acceptance of the innovation. Technological diffusion is a process of filtering, tailoring and accepting [30], and the identified concerns of the agriculture sector professionals in this study can be used to tailor or refine the technology to increase adoption among farmers. The following section will elaborate upon the critical characteristics of agrivoltaic systems as identified by participants and suggest recommendations for improvement with the intention of facilitating accelerated diffusion.

### *4.2. Di*ff*using the Agrivoltaic Innovation—What Needs to Happen?*

Rogers [28] posited that there are five distinct innovation characteristics that help explain why some innovations are widely accepted and some are not. Understanding the characteristics of the agrivoltaic innovation is valuable for interested stakeholders when assessing areas for improvement and pursuing further acceptance of the technology. The results of this study identify the most critical characteristics of agrivoltaics and point to opportunities to directly respond to farmers concerns.

Of these five characteristics, observability of benefits, relative advantage and compatibility with current practice were identified by participants as the most critical when considering their personal adoption of the agrivoltaic technology. What this means for further diffusion is that the solar industry actors involved in the development of agrivoltaic systems must devise mutually beneficial land agreements with farmers that establish compensation for their labor, articulate plans for land restoration after the decommissioning of the system and be sensitive to contextual differences among agriculturalists by designing a system that is flexible enough to meet the needs of the current and

future users. Participants in this study saw immediate value in personal adoption of the technology but sought long-term security in terms of farmland preservation and financial return.

There are a handful of practical actions to be taken to enable further diffusion of agrivoltaics. Table 2 presents a summary of the identified barriers, existing opportunities to overcome them and directions for future work. First, the establishment of agrivoltaic contracts has proven valuable to current solar grazers. Robust and forward-thinking land use agreements will provide a direct way to alleviate uncertainties in land-use planning and secure compensation for farmer's labor. Second, system designers need to integrate flexibility in design by accommodating current land practices and allowing for future changes. Concerns about market uncertainty and rigid systems can be addressed by crafting a combined solar and agricultural project that is adaptable to changing market and farming conditions. Third, agrivoltaics systems should be designed with compatibility in mind. By strategically harnessing the synergy of compatibility with current practice, these results suggest that farmers would be more inclined to engage with a project if it generated advantages in their operation. Being sensible in scaling a system to current practice, rather than creating increased labor burden on farmers, will increase the likelihood of their participation with the technology.

The potential for increased utilization of the agrivoltaic technology is ripe. While previous research has demonstrated its technical viability, this study recognizes that technology innovations exist within a social context and thus depend upon social acceptance and adoption. It is concluded that continued farmer adoption of agrivoltaics is likely, yet contingent on observable benefits in farming practice and assurance of financial gain. Future research should investigate how perceptions vary across geographic regions and agriculture professions (i.e., animal versus crop farming) to study the unique opportunities and barriers for agrivoltaics in the context of local climate and agricultural practice. Increased education and outreach concerning the end-of-life impacts, negligible effects of solar PV on agricultural productivity and potential for agrivoltaic systems to protect crop production during climate change, is necessary to inform and stimulate further farmer adoption. Empirical experimental research should investigate the long-term impacts of solar PV infrastructure on perennial pasture grasses to better understand the possible effects of agrivoltaic systems on future grazing productivity. Economic cost-benefit analysis will be valuable for quantifying the potential cost disadvantages of designing flexible PV arrays that can be adjusted to accommodate different panel heights and spacing requirements. Future policy research can investigate the role of market mechanisms, such as incentives, in prompting further development of agrivoltaics. Based on these findings, policy makers should consider implementing financial instruments that stimulate both solar and agriculture sector adoption of the technology, while building flexibility into such policies to allow diverse, innovative and contextually appropriate system designs. To do this, agrivoltaic proponents can model their efforts on the successful diffusion of wind farm/solar farm integration that focuses on local support [65,66]. Previous research examining diffusion of solar as an innovation among residential adopters highlighted the role of communities of information sharing for promoting adoption [67]. The study presented here is unique in examining the diffusion of agrivoltaic solar innovation as a community level consideration, but also demonstrates how diffusion of innovation can occur within a social context. Moving forward, placing the agrivoltaic technology in a social context will be essential to identify the barriers to its diffusion and will offer relevant solutions to increase its adoption.

### **5. Conclusions**

Agrivoltaic systems are a strategic and innovative approach to combine renewable energy with agricultural production. Recognizing the fundamental importance of farmer adoption in the successful diffusion of agrivoltaics, this study investigates agriculture sector experts' perceptions on the opportunities and barriers to dual land-use systems. Results indicate that participants saw potential benefits for themselves in combined solar and agriculture technology and identified barriers to adoption including desired certainty of long-term land productivity, market potential and just compensation, as well as the need for predesigned system flexibility to accommodate different scales

and types of operations and adjustment to changing farming practice. The identified concerns of the agriculture sector professionals in this study can be used to refine the technology to increase adoption among farmers and to translate the potential of agrivoltaics to address the competition for land between solar PV and agriculture into changes in solar siting, farming practice and land-use decision-making. Ultimately, building integrated energy and food systems can increase global land productivity, minimize agricultural displacement and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Informed and concerted efforts at enabling further diffusion of this innovation are imperative for meeting growing demands for energy and food simultaneously.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, C.S. and J.M.P.; methodology, A.S.P. and C.S.; validation, A.S.P. and C.S.; formal analysis, A.S.P. and C.S.; investigation, A.S.P.; resources, C.S. and J.M.P.; data curation, A.S.P.; writing—original draft preparation, A.S.P.; writing—review and editing, A.S.P., C.S. and J.M.P.; supervision, C.S. and J.M.P.; project administration, J.M.P.; funding acquisition, C.S. and J.M.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technology Office Award Number DE-EE0008990 and the Witte Endowment.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

**Disclaimer:** This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.
