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Nonprofit presents agrivoltaics model and code guidance to Moffat County commissioners
Summary
Representatives from the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center described agrivoltaic practices, cited site data from Jack Solar Garden (1.2 MW demonstration on 5 acres), and recommended model land-use code provisions and incentives to preserve agricultural use under solar arrays.
Representatives of the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center presented an overview of agrivoltaics — integrating agriculture with solar energy arrays — to Moffat County commissioners on June 9 and offered model land-use code language and incentives counties can adopt.
Liz Voss, program manager, and Allison Jackson, education and policy manager, described the Jack Solar Garden demonstration in Longmont, a 1.2-megawatt, single-axis tracking system built on roughly 5 acres of a 24-acre farm. The presenters said agrivoltaic design choices such as elevated panels and increased spacing can allow grazing, perennial plantings and other agricultural uses beneath arrays, and they cited an Arizona site that reportedly cut irrigation needs by about 50% while maintaining tomato yields.
The presenters recommended that counties consider adding a definition for agrivoltaics to land-use codes, streamlining permitting for projects that demonstrate active agricultural use, and creating design standards to address panel height, wire management and soil protection during construction. They emphasized that applicants should demonstrate how proposed panel height, water management and lease arrangements will support agricultural production.
Commissioners asked practical questions about animals in arrays (one commissioner warned that goats can chew wires); presenters said best practices in wire management, protective mesh and exclusion zones can reduce those risks. The learning center offered its land-use code guidance as a resource for county staff and said it can share design templates and research findings.
No action was taken; the presentation concluded and the board adjourned at 9:18 a.m.
