In Colorado, the agricultural landscape has faced challenges like water scarcity, extreme heat, and rising operational costs. What if farmers didn’t have to choose between growing food and generating clean energy? That’s where agrivoltaics comes in. It is our long-term solution to help farmers create unique microclimates that help with crop growth while harnessing the energy from the sun.

At Sandbox+ Solar, we are at the forefront of driving innovation and change to help create a more sustainable, self-sufficient future for everyone in the community. Recently, our commercial solar representative, Jack Donovan, with a background in horticulture and agrivoltaics, contributed to the Technical Guide to Community-Owned Agrivoltaics Solar Gardens. This guide presents a forward-looking approach that helps prove renewable energy and agriculture can thrive together, and we are leading the charge to make it happen.

Agrivoltaics is a dual-use solar installation that allows crops to grow or livestock to graze while generating renewable energy to help with farm operations and provide power to local communities, depending on the scale of the system. Panels provide shade to crops and reduce soil moisture evaporation to ensure plants retain enough water in our arid Colorado climate. Since the plants create a microclimate underneath the array, it actually works to cool the panels and makes them generate electricity more efficiently.

Farmers and land owners now have an advantage with agrivoltaic innovation in Colorado. Acreage is no longer competing for space when it comes to food, livestock, and clean energy production. Since arrays can be elevated on land instead of standard ground-mounted systems, it allows for specialized production and research opportunities to ensure the future of farming is sustainable, resilient, and economically viable for generations to come.

Community-owned agrivoltaic gardens keep economic value right where it belongs: in the hands of local residents, farmers, and business owners. This approach to solar arrays transforms traditional consumers into active stakeholders, allowing the generated energy to be distributed throughout the local community to provide a reliable and affordable source of clean power.

For Colorado’s agricultural producers, land stewardship and financial survival go hand in hand. Fluctuating crop yields, unpredictable weather events, and water rights challenges make agricultural income inherently volatile. Agrivoltaics introduces a steady secondary revenue stream that could act as a hedge against bad seasons. Instead of selling acres to traditional commercial development, farmers can leverage dual-use solar arrays to stabilize their bottom line while keeping their operations intact.

Despite the clear advantages of agrivoltaics, navigating the journey from concept to operational solar gardens can feel overwhelming due to complex engineering hurdles, zoning laws, and intricate financial modeling. Without a clear roadmap and support from experienced solar and agriculture professionals, many transformative projects could stall before even breaking ground.

That is precisely why the Technical Guide to Community-Owned Agrivoltaic Solar Gardens is such a significant milestone for Colorado. This guide demystifies the process of creating a successful solar garden from community engagement and ownership to design, permitting, construction, and everything in between. Sandbox+ Solar is proud to have a knowledgeable team surrounding agrivoltaic innovation and the technical expertise to be a contributor to an actionable playbook to support agricultural developments.

Jack’s contribution showcases Sandbox+ Solar’s broader mission: we don’t just build solar installations; we help write the rules that make renewable energy accessible and impactful for everyone.