2-28-2025 4:51am

LOCAL SOLAR FARM

Jeff Barto Editor

Agrivoltaics headed to Baltimore County?

Lightstar Renewables, a Massachusetts company, hopes to build a new agrivoltaics system on a farm in northern Baltimore County that would make it one of the first in the state. The system would allow the farmer to continue raising crops beneath raised rotating panels, as constructed in the digital rendering above. (Image courtesy Lightstar Renewables)

FREELAND, Md. — A proposed solar farm in northern Baltimore County could become one of Maryland’s first agrivoltaic projects, integrating crop production with renewable energy generation.

Lightstar Renewables, a Massachusetts company founded in 2019, is working on a proposal for a 23-acre solar farm in Freeland, located near the Pennsylvania border. The project would elevate solar panels high enough to allow farming to continue underneath — a dual-use approach that supports the state’s renewable energy goals but also helps protect farmland from being lost to development, said Cecelia Stephens, Lightstar’s development manager.

The idea behind the project emerged several years ago. The company was looking for a site in Maryland on which they could construct a showpiece that would help the company expand in the state. They landed in Freehand on a farm owned by Rebecca Phillips on York Road.

“We knew the site was ideal, with no wetlands and a close proximity to the electrical grid,” Stephens said.

Lightstar initially approached the Phillips family, who had also been contacted by several developers.

“They really didn’t want to contribute to the loss of farmland,” she added.

The site, originally intended to support a larger solar array of around 3 megawatts, is now planned to be about 1.1 megawatts due to several issues, including regulatory requirements and infrastructural issues. The project is still undergoing Baltimore County’s permitting process.

“It’s a pretty extensive process,” Stephens acknowledged, explaining that the county requested a visual impact study and held a public comment period. While some expressed concerns about the visual impact and noise — Stephens compared the hum of the paneling to that of a refrigerator — the biggest concern was the potential loss of farmland.

“People who had valid concerns were mostly those who didn’t live in the immediate area,” Stephens said.

Drew Schiavone, a University of Maryland Extension agent and energy conservation and technology specialist, said that the shift to agrivoltaics requires careful planning. Each project is unique and must consider the specific needs of the land and crops.

Lightstar leases the land from the owner and contracts with the farmer to raise crops beneath it.

“It’s free land essentially,” Stephens said. “But we’re also giving them a stipend to help with whatever farming costs they’re incurring.”

The company also works with farmers to create a farm plan before constructing the solar array, ensuring that farming remains viable after solar panels are installed.

Agrivoltaics projects typically support crops like soybeans and hay, Stephens said. Corn, which can grow taller than 8 feet, is typically too tall, though other market crops, such as tomatoes and broccoli, may be viable depending on the arrangement. Studies show that having solar panels above the crops can create a microclimate that actually increases productivity by keeping plants cooler and helping them retain water, Stephens said.

The company is hopeful that by the end of the year, they’ll have two agrivoltaics projects up and running, with Freeland being one of the most significant to date.

Lightstar builds community solar projects, where energy generated by the solar farm would go back to the grid, allowing residents who don’t have solar on their properties to subscribe. The Maryland Energy Administration has awarded a grant to the Freeland project.

But there are challenges ahead. The federal Investment Tax Credit, which is critical for financing agrivoltaics, is at risk of being cut.

“We see that being cut as a huge threat to agrivoltaics,” she said, warning that such a change would have significant ramifications for projects like this.

But the Freeland site makes future agrivoltaic projects in Maryland more likely, Stephens said.

“We see this project as hopefully being the one that we’ll be able to point to and say, ‘This works here. This is something that should be done more broadly,’” she said.