They can, but when you have any alternative, Agrivoltaics aren’t very appealing.
You frequently end up deliberately setting up solar panels in suboptimal ways to let the plants get the light. So you end up having fewer panels and those panels not able to be used to their full potential at a given site.
So I absolutely vote for parking lots and rooftops to be the first order of business. Yes, Agrivoltaics as it comes to it if the alternative is losing cropland, but it seems like we have a long way to go before we have to make such compromises.
They can, but when you have any alternative, Agrivoltaics aren’t very appealing.
You frequently end up deliberately setting up solar panels in suboptimal ways to let the plants get the light. So you end up having fewer panels and those panels not able to be used to their full potential at a given site.
So I absolutely vote for parking lots and rooftops to be the first order of business. Yes, Agrivoltaics as it comes to it if the alternative is losing cropland, but it seems like we have a long way to go before we have to make such compromises.
even if it improves the farming?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44264-025-00121-w
https://www.energy.gov/cmei/systems/articles/buzzing-around-solar-pollinator-habitat-under-solar-arrays
https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/article/2026/03/02/agrivoltaics-how-combining-solar-panels-and-farming-delivers-big-benefits
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshpearce/2025/11/15/why-farmers-are-shielding-their-crops-with-solar-panels/