Colorado Agrovoltaic Learning Center presents agrivoltaics to Elbert County commissioners

Byron Com, executive director of the Colorado Agrovoltaic Learning Center, told the Elbert County Board of Commissioners at a March 19 work‑study that integrating agriculture with utility‑scale solar — commonly called agrivoltaics — can make small farms financially viable while producing power for nearby communities.

"I'm not here today to sell you on a product. We're... education," Com said, introducing Jack Solar Garden, his family farm in Boulder County where an 8‑acre portion hosts about 3,276 panels mounted on roughly 2,400 steel I‑beams. Com described the installation as a roughly 1.22 megawatt DC (about 960 kW AC) array that places panels across about five acres of panel area and, he said, produces roughly enough electricity for 300 homes.

Why it matters: counties across Colorado are receiving more proposals to site large solar arrays on farmland and rangeland. Com said agrivoltaic design can preserve or even improve forage and crop outcomes in some climates while providing landowners a steady lease revenue stream. He offered free local land‑use code guidance and technical assistance to help counties allow agricultural activities on leased solar land.

Project details and findings Com described Jack Solar Garden as a mixed‑use site designed to test how shade, moisture redistribution and wind reduction affect plants and livestock. He said the site includes panels at two primary heights (about 6.5 feet and roughly 8 feet at the leading edge) to support machinery and people moving through the array. "When they're flat, I have about two‑thirds of the property about 6'6 and a third of it being close to 8 ft," he said.

Com reported several quantitative findings from on‑site research with Colorado State University and others: under average local rainfall he estimated a roughly 5% reduction in total forage production inside the array compared with outside; in one wet year the loss rose to about 12%; by contrast, during an extremely dry year his site produced about 20% more grass inside the array than outside, which he attributed to reduced heat stress and improved moisture capture at panel edges.

Crops, livestock and operations Com said market‑garden vegetables have been grown beneath the panels (about 15,000 pounds in one year) and that small‑scale employment followed; roughly six growers worked in the array in one season. He also described trials with sheep, cattle and chickens, noting animals use shade and generally do not damage properly managed installations. "We had a site in Louisiana with more than 10,000 panels and about 40 yearlings; it was reported that only one panel was damaged," he said, using the example to emphasize breed, age and wire management considerations.

Regulatory and design guidance offered to counties Com summarized the Learning Center's land‑use guidance, recommending early conversations about design so agricultural activities are preserved in lease language and construction avoids excessive grading or compaction. He urged counties to require stewardship reports so officials can learn how sites perform, and warned against overly burdensome vegetative screening requirements that many developers will not maintain.

Questions from commissioners Commissioner McDaniel asked whether panels can be raised to accommodate larger animals; Com said heights can be increased but that doing so raises structural cost because higher installations face stronger winds. McDaniel also asked whether the presenter had engaged with a local developer (Cyprus); Com said they had spoken with Cyprus.

Commissioner Sher sought clarification that vegetable plots at Jack Solar Garden were drip‑irrigated while grass areas were not; Com confirmed that vegetables were irrigated and grass areas were not. Sher also asked about larger‑scale cattle integration. Com pointed to examples nationwide (including Texas and Ohio) and to companies testing cattle at scale, and said about 10% of large U.S. solar sites have some sheep grazing.

Soil and construction concerns When asked whether blading the ground impedes future agriculture, Com said avoiding heavy grading at installation preserves deeper soils for perennial crops and reduces compaction problems. He described compaction testing at his site that showed little change after installation and suggested monitoring vegetation and land use as practical indicators of soil health rather than routine multisite chemical testing unless specific contamination concerns exist.

Outcome and next steps The session was a work‑study only; commissioners did not take action and no public comment was allowed. Com offered free workshops, technical assistance and county‑level land‑use template language and invited commissioners and staff to visit Jack Solar Garden for tours.

Quotes used in this article are drawn directly from the March 19 work‑study presentation to the Elbert County Board of Commissioners and from the subsequent question‑and‑answer period.