Opportunities and Barriers for Agrivoltaics on Tribal Lands
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Scoping Study
2.2. Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis
2.3. Suitability Study
3. Results
3.1. Scoping Study Findings
3.2. Interview Findings: Opportunities for Adoption
3.2.1. Food Sovereignty Benefits
3.2.2. Energy Sovereignty Benefits
3.2.3. Economic Development Benefits
3.3. Interview Findings: Barriers to Adoption
3.3.1. Technical Concerns
3.3.2. Economic Concerns
3.3.3. Siting Concerns
3.3.4. Social-Ecological Concerns
3.4. Suitability Study Findings
4. Discussion
Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Initial Interview Protocol
- Can you tell me about the first time you thought about pursuing a career in Native agriculture?
- How did you come to be in your current role? [If you’re not currently working in agriculture, how did you come to be in your most recent ag-related role?]
- a.
- How do you describe your role as a _____________?
- b.
- What areas of knowledge or skills are most crucial in your role?
- What areas do you consider to be your region of expertise?
- a.
- What type of agricultural production is found there?
- In your experience, what kind of energy production happens in your region?
- In what ways, if any, do you see agriculture and energy interacting in Tribal communities you are familiar with?
- a.
- How about agriculture interactions with solar energy in particular?
- b.
- What about positive or negative interactions?
- Have you seen any electricity issues in Tribal communities you are familiar with?
- As a quick pulse read, on a scale of 1–5 (with 1 being never heard of it before this study and 5 being very familiar), how familiar are you with agrivoltaics?
- a.
- If familiar, how did you hear about agrivoltaics?
- b.
- When you heard about it, was it in a positive, negative, or neutral context?
- From what you know about agrivoltaics:
- a.
- What is your initial reaction?
- b.
- Does it seem like agrivoltaics could be feasible in your community?
- c.
- How do you think the larger community reacts to the concept?
- d.
- If someone were interested in adopting agrivoltaics, what concerns or challenges do you think they might face?
- What impact might agrivoltaics have on:
- a.
- the productivity of the farm?
- b.
- the environment and/or wildlife?
- c.
- economic development in the area?
- d.
- food access in the area?
- e.
- energy access in the area?
- What are your initial thoughts (including questions you may have) about the scoping analysis map?
- a.
- How does the suitability calculated for your area resonate with your understanding and experience?
- b.
- What factors would you add or change?
- If a Tribal leader called you tomorrow asking for your opinion on agrivoltaics and you only had one minute to think, what would you tell them?
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Parameter | Dataset |
---|---|
Tribal land base | US Census Bureau AIANNH Areas |
Agricultural land use | USDA Cropland Data Layer |
Slope | SRTM Digital Elevation Data V4 |
Sector | Location | Gender | Age | Producer Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonprofit: 15 | Eastern US: 3 | Female: 11 | 18–29: 7 | Current: 10 |
Academia: 3 | Great Plains: 4 | Male: 10 | 30–49: 10 | Former: 2 |
Private: 2 | Rocky Mountains: 3 | 50–69: 3 | Never: 9 | |
Public: 1 | Southwest US: 6 | 70+: 1 | ||
Pacific Coast: 5 |
Area (1000 Acres) | % of Subtotal | ||
---|---|---|---|
Tribal agricultural area | Cropland | 6790 | 31% |
Pastureland | 15,415 | 69% | |
Subtotal | 22,205 | - | |
Tribal agrivoltaics potential | Cropland | 5920 | 39% |
Pastureland | 9297 | 61% | |
Subtotal | 15,217 | - |
Concern | Count |
---|---|
Technical | 15 |
Economic | 19 |
Siting | 18 |
Socio-ecological | 15 |
AV Feasible Land | |
Top states | 100,000 acres |
(1) South Dakota | 63.8 |
(2) Montana | 33.8 |
(3) Arizona | 10.9 |
(4) North Dakota | 10.8 |
(5) Oklahoma | 6.6 |
(6) New Mexico | 4.5 |
(7) Idaho | 3.0 |
(8) Minnesota | 2.7 |
(9) Washington | 2.6 |
(10) Utah | 2.5 |
Grid-tied AV feasible land | |
Top states | 100,000 acres |
(1) South Dakota | 23.1 |
(2) Montana | 17.9 |
(3) Arizona | 4.7 |
(4) Oklahoma | 4.5 |
(5) North Dakota | 4.1 |
(6) New Mexico | 3.7 |
(7) Washington | 2.3 |
(8) Idaho | 2.0 |
(9) Minnesota | 1.9 |
(10) Nebraska | 1.6 |
AV priority land | |
Top states | 100,000 acres |
(1) South Dakota | 29.0 |
(2) Montana | 18.1 |
(3) Arizona | 10.9 |
(4) New Mexico | 4.5 |
(5) Oklahoma | 3.5 |
(6) Utah | 2.5 |
(7) Wyoming | 1.8 |
(8) Washington | 1.1 |
(9) North Dakota | 1.0 |
(10) Oregon | 0.9 |
Grid-tied AV priority land | |
Top states | 100,000 acres |
(1) South Dakota | 11.1 |
(2) Montana | 9.1 |
(3) Arizona | 4.0 |
(4) New Mexico | 3.5 |
(5) Oklahoma | 2.4 |
(6) Minnesota | 1.8 |
(7) North Dakota | 1.5 |
(8) Washington | 1.2 |
(9) Idaho | 1.1 |
(10) Utah | 1.0 |
Theme | Findings | Sample Quote | Recommendation |
---|---|---|---|
Durability | Participants questioned the durability of AV infrastructure given various hazards on working lands. | “How tough is the agrivoltaics equipment? Because someone is totally backing a tractor into it at some point”. (P6) | Sponsor pilot projects to test AV infrastructure in a variety of production systems. |
Complexity | Participants expressed concerns about increased knowledge and management burdens for producers. | “Your practices will have to adapt. Understanding what you can and can’t do versus having a wide-open piece of land is going to be a major thing”. (P2) | Scale up extension services to provide evidenced-based recommendations to producers. |
Productivity | Participants worried that AV installations would hinder their land productivity. | “I would be worried that the rain isn’t going to hit parts of the field and the panels would cause runoff to pool into one spot”. (P15) | Invest in robust research programs to measure and mitigate impacts to productivity. |
Financing | Participants anticipated challenges raising large sums of capital for AV given the socio-economic landscape in Tribal areas. | “I like the idea, but I think the upfront cost will turn a lot of people off. It’s really expensive to do solar”. (P16) | Explore opportunities to fund AV through existing set-asides for clean energy development on Tribal lands. |
Market | Participants did not think utility companies would want to purchase energy from AV. | “You have all this excess energy, but who is going to buy it? Will the utility commission even allow us to sell surplus energy to other people?” (P10) | Consider incentives for utility companies to cooperate with AV operators in their service area. |
Labor | Participants shared how the acute shortage of trained workers in Tribal areas could constrain AV implementation. | “We have a human resources capacity problem in Tribal areas”. (P13) | Develop comprehensive training material that can be delivered to interested parties in rural areas. |
Land tenure | Participants saw land tenure complexities as a major hurdle for AV implementation. | “Land restrictions would probably be the number one issue that we would run up against”. (P2) | Partner with Tribes on proposals to streamline land use and development. |
Leasing | Participants expected challenges implementing AV on land leased through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). | “It’s a big, big hurdle with BIA land management to put in infrastructure, or even just to generally operate”. (P6) | Direct resources to alleviate bureaucratic backlogs and increase responsiveness to Tribal clients. |
People | Participants emphasized that potential AV projects would need to benefit the whole community, not just interested parties. | “What are the community’s likes, the community’s passions? How can it benefit the community beyond the money sense?” (P18) | Make space for stakeholder input and create a holistic framework for assessing community benefit. |
Nature | Participants voiced concerns about the well-being of plants, animals and water in proximity to AV systems. | “How will wildlife be impacted by this? I feel like people don’t consider that many tribes are very respectful of all wildlife, even animals that may be thought of as vermin by others”. (P16) | Prioritize technology and design solutions that minimize disruption to the ecosystem. |
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Moore, K.A.; Lobell, D.B. Opportunities and Barriers for Agrivoltaics on Tribal Lands. Sustainability 2024, 16, 5414. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135414
Moore KA, Lobell DB. Opportunities and Barriers for Agrivoltaics on Tribal Lands. Sustainability. 2024; 16(13):5414. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135414
Chicago/Turabian StyleMoore, Karli A., and David B. Lobell. 2024. "Opportunities and Barriers for Agrivoltaics on Tribal Lands" Sustainability 16, no. 13: 5414. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135414
APA StyleMoore, K. A., & Lobell, D. B. (2024). Opportunities and Barriers for Agrivoltaics on Tribal Lands. Sustainability, 16(13), 5414. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135414