Agrivoltaics becoming part of Weld County proposals

Many solar developers submit proposals to northern Colorado jurisdiction with explicit plans for agricultural production

In simple acreage, Weld County is Colorado’s third largest. Because of flattish land and transmission access, it is also one of the most attractive to solar developers.

Maxwell Nader, the county planning manager, reports about 100 applications have been filed for solar projects since 2013. Some are five acres or so but a few run several thousand acres. The normal is 20 to 30 acres. The bulk have been in the Greeley area or around surrounding towns: Eaton, Severance and Johnston, among others.

In most cases, the solar projects are for farmland. The farmers say they need the supplemental income for their farming operations.

Unlike those of Mesa County, the regulations adopted by Weld County commissioners in 2021 make no mention of agrivoltaics. Despite that absence, many solar developers have been submitting proposals that include explicit plans for continued agricultural production – or, in a few cases, new agricultural production.

Proposals have been increasing, and a simple trigger for that has been a new requirement by Xcel Energy. Xcel has said that solar developers need to get local approval before applying to the utility. Before, it was get utility approval first and then the approval of the local jurisdiction.

“That (new procedure) really jumped our numbers very quickly,” said Nader.

See also “Leaving everyone a little bit unhappy,” the story about the experience of Mesa and other counties in Colorado

Photo: Cows at Jack’s Solar Garden near Longmont, which has become the marquee place in Colorado for thinking about and studying the integration of agriculture and solar production. Photo courtesy of Jack’s Solar Garden.

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