India's Solar Farms Grow Crops, Boost Farmer Income

India's government is actively formulating a policy to accelerate the adoption of agrivoltaics nationwide. This innovative approach integrates solar energy generation with agricultural production on the same land, aiming to enhance farmers' incomes.

An estimated 30% of India's 160 million hectares of cropland possesses the potential for non-fossil fuel-based projects like agrivoltaics. States including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh collectively hold nearly 50% of this potential.

The Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy highlighted that while agrivoltaic plants currently cost 25-30% more than conventional solar projects, a scale-up is anticipated to reduce these costs. The government is targeting an initial capacity of 5 GW and plans to integrate a 10-GW agri-PV component into the proposed PM KUSUM 2.0 scheme.

Germany has pledged support for joint research on pilot agrivoltaic sites, aiming to demonstrate the economic and sustainable combination of agriculture and solar power generation. A draft policy will be made public for stakeholder feedback.