My attention was caught by the photo in a recent article showing placards that said, “Stop Solar Panels on Agricultural Land.” The article described attempts to forbid solar projects on farmland in Carroll County (“Carroll’s ‘unenforceable’ zoning laws can’t stop solar farms, developers say,” Oct. 29). The stated rationale is that Carroll’s master plan “prioritizes the preservation of land for agricultural purpose.”
Having lived in Carroll County in the 1970s, I can state that Carroll County has done little to act on that prioritization, as I’ve seen farm after farm planted with a crop of single-family houses, which tie up the land for a very long season. Solar cells, however, do not prevent agricultural use of the land. The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been studying agrivoltaics for some time. A recent study in Alaska (reported in the New York Times) found that growing potatoes, kale and spinach in conjunction with solar cells actually increased crop yields. The combination of solar and agricultural farms seems quite common in Europe. It’s a shame that this country trails behind.
— George Dinwiddie, Pasadena
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