Posted on 27 January 2026 by Sue Bin Park

Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline.

Are solar projects hurting farmers and rural communities?

The largest land use scenario for solar development would occupy only 1.15% of the 900 million acres of U.S. farmland. Many would not be sited on farmland at all.

Agrivoltaics is a practice allowing the synergistic installation of solar arrays on farmland. Panels can provide beneficial shade to crops and livestock, reduce evaporation and soil erosion, and create refuges for pollinators. Agrivoltaics, already implemented in other countries, can increase the economic value of farmland by over 30% and annual income by 8%.

Failing to transition away from fossil fuels would worsen climate change’s impacts on farmers and global food supply. The IPCC forecasts up to 80 million additional people at risk of hunger by 2050, lower quality crop yields, and altered distribution of pests and diseases due to climate change.

The harms to farmers and rural communities from unmitigated carbon emissions far outweigh the effects of solar development.

Go to full rebuttal on Skeptical Science or to the fact brief on Gigafact

This fact brief is responsive to quotes such as this one.

Sources

U.S. Department of Energy Solar Futures Study

U.S. Department of Agriculture Farms and Land in Farms 2021 Summary

Princeton University Net-Zero America

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Agrivoltaics

MDPI Sustainability Compatibility between Crops and Solar Panels: An Overview from Shading Systems

Applied Energy The potential for agrivoltaics to enhance solar farm cooling

University of Georgia Empowering Biodiversity on Solar Farms

Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer "yes/no" answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact — a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all of our published fact briefs here.