Agrivoltaics Seen as Way of the Future for Rural Albertans

The first ever agrivoltaics conference of its kind in Alberta was told using farmland for both solar power and agriculture could unlock new economic opportunities for rural communities.

Agrivoltaics could be co-located with emerging sectors like data centres, hydrogen production and vertical agriculture that will need renewable, clean electricity, said Claude Mindorff, secretary and director of Agrivoltaics Canada.

“There are a lot of different ways in agriculture we can benefit from promoting agrivoltaics, both on a small scale and on a large scale,” he told the Advancing Agrivoltaics for Alberta’s Sustainable Future conference.

The one-day event was held on June 26 at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology. It was the first to be held in Alberta by Agrivoltaics Canada, which is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and integrating advancements in agrivoltaics that are centred on farmers.

“We’re here because there’s a real opportunity in Alberta, but it’s also timely,” said Patrick Gossage, board chair of Agrivoltaics Canada, in an interview.

“We think agrivoltaics can help the current federal government achieve its objectives around energy security and Canada being an energy superpower – but also being an agricultural powerhouse.”

Agrivoltaics seeks to pair food production with energy generation, enabling the same farmland to simultaneously provide solar electricity while raising crops and livestock. “Our goal at Agrivoltaics Canada over the next few years is to bring awareness, and to foster research and collaboration with producers,” said Mindorff.

Olds College Centre for Innovation (OCCI) is in the early stages of planning what it hopes will become a multi-year research program for agrivoltaics. It could help guide the sector’s growth in Canada by providing reliable scientific data to everyone from farmers to regulators.

Research could range from soil health and microclimates to robotics and promoting biodiversity, said Dr. Semeton Amosu, who is a research associate and soil scientist with environmental stewardship applied research at OCCI.

It is particularly vital to explore the profitability of agrivoltaics, he told the conference. “It’s all about the socioeconomics of agrivoltaics because if you put in all these components of crops and/or livestock and then it’s running at a loss, I’m not sure anyone wants to be investing, whether you’re a solar developer or a producer.”

A boom in solar and wind projects in Alberta sparked fears by farmers and rural residents over losing prime agricultural land. The provincial government decided in 2024 that projects on Class 1 and 2 farmland must demonstrate coexistence with crops and/or livestock.

Olds College, in collaboration with the University of Alberta, will survey at least 500 farmers to gauge their attitudes toward agrivoltaics. Researchers also expect to complete a comprehensive report by September on the current status of agrivoltaics in the province.

“It’s our strong contention that we’re not losing farms to solar projects,” said Gossage during an earlier interview. “We’re losing them because the next generation of farmers can see how hard it’s becoming to make a living.”

Mindorff said many people, even academics, have never heard of agrivoltaics, while others believe it is a gimmick foisted on rural communities by solar developers to gain project approval.

“Agrivoltaics Canada is not a utility-scale developers’ organization. One of the biggest drivers we need to do is get producers involved and show them how they can benefit from adopting renewable energy in agriculture.”

The Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) has been vocal about the loss of farmland to solar and wind projects because its members’ economies are driven by agriculture, he said. “The natural pairing of agrivoltaic practice with the local rural agricultural economy is incredibly important.”

Alberta’s hydrogen strategy recognizes how the province’s rapidly expanding solar and wind capacity could promote green hydrogen production via electrolysis. It aims to establish the province as a leading global producer and exporter of low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen.

It also plans to integrate clean hydrogen into Alberta’s domestic energy system for uses like transportation, heating and industrial processes. Rural residents could also benefit by co-locating hydrogen with agrivoltaics projects, which are often near highways, said Mindorff.

Hydrogen fueling stations in rural communities could service both farmers and local transportation, eliminating the need for pipelines and reducing carbon emissions in agriculture, he said. “It’s a big carbon issue that has to be dealt with, and one of the ways that we can do this is help agriculture affordably approach net zero by 2050.”

Alberta is also pursuing a multi-billion-dollar opportunity to diversify its economy by establishing the province as a leading hub for data centres. These facilities will require immense, reliable power for their vast computer, storage and networking infrastructure needed by companies like Amazon.

Clean, low-cost energy is also needed to promote vertical agriculture, which uses large amounts of electricity to power technologies like computers, hydroponics and LED lighting to raise crops indoors in a controlled environment.

It could help farmers supply fresh food such as leafy greens year-round to local consumers. Canadians are facing rising food prices during a trade war with the U.S. that is raising concerns about importing American produce.

Rural Albertans are familiar with the intertwining of energy and agriculture because of oil and gas wells on farmland, said Todd Ormann, Vice-President of External Relations and Research at Olds College. He told the conference he looked at agrivoltaics as someone who is part of one of the top 50 research colleges in Canada, but also as someone who grew up on a farm with 13 gas wells. 

“When I go home today down to southern Alberta, I see lots of windmills and I see lots of agrivoltaics on the ground, and while I can understand crops and I can understand livestock, this itself to me is a unique opportunity for diverse income.”