Solar Energy Use in U.S. Agriculture – Overview and Policy Issues

Irene M. Xiarchos and Brian Vick

No 356481, USDA Miscellaneous from United States Department of Agriculture

Abstract: This report serves as an overview of solar energy use by farmers and ranchers in the U.S. that identifies trends and future potential. Agriculture was an early adopter for remote applications. These are still cost effective today, but in the last decade agriculture has seen the number of grid‐connected systems and the average size of solar systems increase. System sizes range from 5 watts to 1 Megawatt (MW) and cost from a couple hundred to almost 10 million dollars. Some solar thermal installations are also used in agriculture, but are currently overshadowed by solar electric. Though solar energy can reduce energy cost volatility and greenhouse gases, its high capital cost and the lower average price of competing fuel remain impediments to growth. For this reason, development in solar has been policy driven. The report reviews the regulations and incentives that are available to farmers and ranchers and have recently boosted installations, and examines major financial influences. Solar energy development in agriculture varies considerably by State, incentives, and energy prices.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Dairy Production/Industries; Financial Economics; Livestock Production/Industries; Research Research Methods/Statistical Methods; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 94
Date: 2011-04
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/356481/files/AgSolarEnergyOCE2011.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:usdami:356481

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.356481

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in USDA Miscellaneous from United States Department of Agriculture
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().