“With great power comes great power bills” – so jokes Joe Czajkowski, owner of Lakeside Organic of Hadley LLC and Joe Czajkowski Farm in Massachusetts.

He’s not wrong, and the idea of generating your own electricity becomes more tempting as you use more of it. For some farmers, wind turbines make sense; for many others, arrays of solar panels may work better. But how successful is growing near (or even underneath) solar arrays?

Czajkowski shared his grower experience doing so at the most recent Great Lakes Expo. His farm is a third-generation operation headquartered in Hadley, MA, with parcels across Western Massachusetts. It comprises 400 acres, 100 of which are certified organic. They grow both fruits and vegetables, and the farm adds value to their produce by selling peeled and chopped vegetables to local schools (like Springfield Public Schools), universities (UMass Amherst), grocery stores (like Trader Joe’s) and restaurants. They also offer U-pick strawberries and direct-to-consumer produce at the farm.

He has two goals for his operation: to be profitable and sustainable. In pursuing those aims, he said he’s noticed two trends. “Farmers are getting less of the consumer’s dollar and consumers really want convenience,” Czajkowski stated. “That’s why we sell chopped squash, shredded carrots and sweet potato fries – but we use a lot of electricity to chop all those things up. It costs about $100,000 a year.”

And so agrivoltaics – the use of land for both agriculture and solar photovoltaic energy generation – appealed to him. Several years ago, he purchased a roof-mounted solar installation and liked it a lot (“thanks in part to a $12,000 credit”).

“I wasn’t sure about field mounts, but we placed them on the most marginal land we have for dual use,” he explained. “I thought working underneath the panels would be difficult, but it’s not. We use tractors and other equipment under them – we just need to pay attention.”

Lettuce, tomatoes and brassicas all do well underneath the arrays, as do strawberries and raspberries, Czajkowski said.

He referenced a study from Rutgers University that showed that during overly sunny years, some plants can actually do better under the panels. “A plant can only use so much light, and when the panels stay cooler with the plants underneath them they produce 10% more electricity,” he added.

His big takeaway from his experience is that “photovoltaics and photosynthesis go together.” He had a solid partner help him in reaching that conclusion though.

Joe Czajkowski using a tractor underneath one of his farm’s solar arrays. Photo courtesy of Hyperion Systems LLC

Joining Czajkowski for his talk was Jake Marley, owner and CEO of Hyperion Systems LLC. Based in Belchertown, MA, the business was founded in 2011 by his father Dave, whose mantra was “food first, then energy.” Today, the business specializes in dual use elevated solar.

“I’m not a fan of taking good farmland out of production, but an Oregon State study showed that 1% of dual use agricultural land could meet the country’s renewable energy goals,” Czajkowski said.

So he worked with Marley to design a system to keep as much land in production as possible. His arrays are 10 feet from the ground to the modules. There was minimal land disturbance during installation – there is no concrete around the posts. The rows are 26 feet from post to post on two acres, all set back from public view.

The 535-watt bi-facial modules have photovoltaic collectors on both sides so that with a single axis tracker, the modules follow the path of the sun. These movable modules produce about 30% more energy than fixed tilt arrays, according to Marley.

As a bonus, this project provides community solar. Anything the farm doesn’t use goes back to the grid.

Hyperion Systems owns the arrays, and Czajkowski receives $10,500 a year in lease payments from them – plus a 17% reduction in his utility costs, plus the revenue from whatever he harvests from beneath them.

“Sustainable is not enough – I think we can do better,” Czajkowski said. He’s working with UMass Clean Energy Extension which has a three-year-long study currently underway at this site. They’re looking at the effects of co-locating solar energy and ag operations and will release their findings in spring 2025.

In the meantime, Czajkowski and Marley are developing three other similar projects on other portions of his farmland.

He said for those considering adding solar arrays to their farms, be sure to tap into USDA funding for projects like these – and work with a company that’s flexible.

by Courtney Llewellyn