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Agricultural land with solar development saw most land cover change after installation, 2012–17

by Karen Maguire, Sophia Tanner and Justin B. Winikoff
9/12/2024

Land Use, Land Value & Tenure

Bar chart showing percent of agricultural land that changed land cover and that left agriculture after installation of utility-scale solar and wind projects from 2012 to 2017.

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USDA, Economic Research Service researchers recently studied how solar and wind development affects land cover near wind turbines and solar farms. They found that cropland or pasture-rangeland usually stayed in the same land cover even after the addition of solar or wind development.

Agricultural land with solar development saw most land cover change after installation, 2012–17

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