Talked to a farmer at the diner who changed my mind about solar farms

I was grabbing breakfast near Modesto last Saturday and got to talking with a guy who grows almonds. He told me he leases 40 acres to a solar company and makes more per acre than he ever did with crops. It hit me that land use arguments against solar are more complicated than I thought, and maybe the real issue is how we design these projects. Has anyone else talked to local landowners about this stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

john_sullivan226d ago

That "makes more per acre" part is what got me. My buddy in Texas rents out part of his dryland wheat to a solar outfit and he's basically retired now off the lease payments. He just sits on his porch and watches the panels turn with the sun.

jamiekim26d ago

Yeah but what happens when the panels wear out and they just abandon all that junk there.