$400,000 Agrivoltaics Project Powers One-Third of Colorado Vineyard While Shielding Crops From Extreme Weather

At the Western Colorado Research Center near Orchard Mesa, a new experiment is underway that could change how vineyards operate in sunny regions. Horst Caspari, the state viticulturist at Colorado State University, is leading research on agrivoltaics—the practice of combining agriculture with solar power generation. His project is now the largest agrivoltaics installation over a vineyard in North America.

The research center’s new system features rows of grapevines growing beneath elevated solar panels. Some of these panels are semi-transparent, allowing more sunlight to reach the plants below, while others are traditional opaque black panels. The goal is to find out how much energy can be generated without sacrificing grape production and whether certain types of panels work better for crops.

Caspari explained the challenge to a group of local residents during an open house earlier this month. Both solar farms and vineyards need land with plenty of sunshine, but there is only so much prime land available. “Large solar installations require a lot of land, and the best land for solar is land where it’s nice and sunny. But what's the best land to produce crops? Also land that's nice and sunny,” Caspari said.

The idea behind agrivoltaics is not new. Researchers first proposed it more than 40 years ago, but only recently have large-scale tests begun in the United States. The concept is simple: instead of choosing between using land for crops or for solar panels, do both at once. By raising the panels higher off the ground and spacing them farther apart, enough light can reach the vines to keep them productive.

Caspari’s team wants to know if growers need to invest in expensive semi-transparent panels or if they can use less costly traditional ones with careful management of light and spacing. “My question really is, do I need to go expensive or can I go cheaper—and with a bit of management of the light, can get away with it because then I can have half the system size in terms of other costs,” Caspari said.

The installation at Orchard Mesa cost more than $400,000 and will supply about a third of the farm’s energy needs. But Caspari says the real value lies in what they will learn from it. In addition to generating electricity, the panels offer protection from weather extremes. Earlier this year, hail destroyed the entire crop at the research farm. The solar panels also help shield vines from frost—a major threat in Western Colorado—by keeping temperatures under the panels up to six degrees Fahrenheit warmer than in open areas.

Other local growers are watching closely. Talbott Farms, a large fruit producer nearby, is installing its own 1.1-acre agrivoltaics system. With high energy demands for refrigeration and processing, Talbott Farms could see significant savings on electricity bills by generating power on-site.

Caspari believes that as more data becomes available from these projects, commercial growers will be able to make informed decisions about investing in agrivoltaics. If successful, this approach could help vineyards and other farms across sunny regions balance energy production with crop yields—potentially changing how agricultural land is used in Colorado and beyond.