On May 5, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced the Foundational Agrivoltaic Research for Megawatt Scale (FARMS) funding opportunity, which will award $8 million in funding for projects that examine how agrivoltaics can scale up to provide new economic opportunities to farmers, rural communities, and the solar industry. Agrivoltaics is defined as agricultural production, such as crop production, livestock grazing, and pollinator habitat that exist underneath solar panels and/or in between rows of solar panels.
Projects will conduct a range of activities, including integrated agriculture-energy impact studies examining how agrivoltaic designs impact both agriculture production and energy production. Some projects will study how agrivoltaics can integrate into existing or enable new social and economic structures, while others will develop resources that will lower the barriers of entry to agrivoltaics, making it easier for agricultural producers and solar developers to benefit from these opportunities.
SETO’s goal is to reduce barriers to the deployment of utility- and community-scale solar energy necessary to meet the Biden administration’s goals for equitably decarbonizing the electricity sector by 2035. Scaling up the co-location of solar energy and agriculture has the potential to reduce land-use conflicts and provide additional benefits to farmers, rural communities, and the solar industry.
Deadlines:
- Required Letter of Intent: June 1, 2022
- Required Concept Papers: June 22, 2022
- Full Applications: Aug. 30, 2022
This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) has three areas of interest:
- Integrated agriculture-energy impact studies that investigate how agrivoltaic designs impact both agriculture production and energy production;
- Socioeconomics of agrivoltaics research that studies how agrivoltaics can fit into existing agricultural communities and economies or enable new ones; and
- Resources for replicable and scalable agrivoltaics that lower the barrier of entry to agrivoltaics, making it easier for interested agricultural producers and solar developers to benefit from the opportunities that agrivoltaics provides.
An entity may submit more than one Concept Paper and Full Application to this FOA, provided that each application describes a unique, scientifically distinct project and provided that an eligible Concept Paper was submitted for each Full Application.
EERE expects to make a total of approximately $8,000,000 of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. EERE anticipates making approximately 4-6 awards under this FOA. EERE may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards may vary between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000.