Agrivoltaics Research and Development Grant

Agrivoltaics Research and Development Grant is sponsored by Colorado Department of Agriculture. The Agrivoltaics Research and Development Grant is a program from the Colorado Department of Agriculture that funds research and pilot projects exploring the co-location of solar energy generation and agricultural production on the same land.

Agrivoltaics are the integration of solar energy generation facilities with agricultural activities. To help promote multi-faceted uses of agricultural land, the Colorado Department of Agriculture operates the Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Grant Program. The Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Grant Program has awarded $1 million to thirteen projects in its first two years.

Grants are intended to investigate the advantages, additional costs, and compromises of agrivoltaics systems. Funded projects include the construction of multiple new agrivoltaic arrays that showcase various panel technologies and applications with different cropping systems. Additionally, the program funded outreach campaigns, research studies, the retrofitting of a traditional solar array for grazing, and economic modeling projects.

The program originated from Senate Bill 23-092, in which the Colorado state legislature appropriated $500,000 to distribute as agrivoltaics grants in Fiscal Year 2023-24 to support Colorado producers and help Colorado’s clean energy transition. These grants should “conduct a new or ongoing demonstration or research project as a means to study the potential, benefits, and tradeoffs of agrivoltaics in the state."

This program is separate from CDA’s existingAdvancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ACRE3) Program. ### Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Grant **Application window for Fiscal Year 2026-27 is open now through June 15, 2026!

** * AgPV FY27 Grant Guidelines * AgPV FY27 Grant Application This grant encourages innovative projects, including demonstrations of agrivoltaics, research projects, and outreach campaigns to further agrivoltaics and Colorado’s agricultural economy.

Eligible project types include: * Planning and/or permitting of agrivoltaics demonstration projects, * Construction of agrivoltaics demonstration projects, * Expansion of existing demonstration projects of agrivoltaic systems, * Research, monitoring and/or analysis of an agrivoltaic demonstration project, * Outreach and communication projects promoting results found from agrivoltaics demonstration projects, * Other projects that further the research and demonstration of agrivoltaics projects.

If you missed our informational webinar on April 20th about the grant requirements and application process, you can watch a recording here. A tractor seeds in-between solar panels on a plot of land retrofitted for solar grazing by Namaste Solar (FY24 Awardee).

### **2025-26 Awarded Projects** * **Colorado State University (Dr. Knapp & Sturchio Lab)** will quantify how agrivoltaic land use in the semi-arid native rangelands of Colorado can conserve soil moisture, particularly important during drought, and provide reliable, and perhaps increased, forage production for livestock **(Weld County)**.

* **AgriSolar Consulting**will host a training workshop, create fact sheets, and convene a working group to help CSU Extension build expertise and capacity to provide science-based, actionable information on agrivoltaics to producers**(statewide).

** * **Longroots Ranch** will shift from continuous grazing to holistic planned grazing and regenerative grazing of sheep at a 55-acre solar array and establish an ecological monitoring process to measure land regeneration**(Boulder County). ****Join the Herd**: Longroots Ranch's insider list for solar grazing updates, site tours, and soil health monitoring outcomes.

* **American Farmland Trust**will conduct interviews and focus groups with agricultural producers and electrical utility stakeholders that will identify key factors hindering agrivoltaics deployment, opportunities, and potential policy and programmatic solutions**(statewide).

** * **Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center**will host regional workshops focused on county officials, electric cooperatives, farming and ranching organizations, solar companies, land trusts, and other interested local organizations in their home communities to discuss local opportunities for agrivoltaics**(statewide).

** ### Agrivoltaic Steering Committee **Byron Kominek**, Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center / Jack's Solar Garden **Ellen Kutzer**, Colorado Solar and Storage Association **Jordan Macknick**, National Renewable Energy Association **Duncan Gilchrist**, The Nature Conservancy **Meg Caley**, Sprout City Farms **Bob Wagner**, Farmer, Wagner Charolais and Gene Check, Inc. **Nathan Troudt**, Farmer **Alan Knapp**, Colorado State University **Tyler Garrett**, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union **Zach Riley**, Colorado Livestock Association **Mark Uchanski**, Colorado State University **Darrell Littlefield**, L7 Ranch LLC Three rows of bifacial solar panels stand in a field of corn at the ARDEC site, constructed by Sandbox Solar (FY24 Awardee).