Using solar panels to support grasslands during drought

I admit, I’m the person who wonders why we don’t put solar panels on school roofs and over parking lots. It seems like these would be prime places. I have thought less about mixing solar panels and agriculture, mostly because agriculture is not my area of expertise. However, some research by Sturchio and Knapp (2025) shows that locating solar panels over water-limited ecosystems has the potential to reduce the impacts of drought on plants.

During high drought conditions, the plants under the solar panels actually did better because they had increased shade, and the solar panels collected water, which then fell on the soil below. In dry years, productivity increased by approximately 20% compared to open grassland, with some areas, primarily near the panel edges increasing by 90%During better conditions, the plants grew as well with or without the solar panel shade.

The authors raise future opportunities related to climate change. The solar panels offer an opportunity to both contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the negative ecosystem impacts on grasslands that are prone or will be prone to droughts.

Obviously, future research is needed to examine the impacts of solar panels in other areas, such as over different agricultural crops, but it seems like this would be a good compromise to the battle over land for agriculture versus land for renewable energy production. Further, this was with standard solar panels, what might happen if the panels were designed with agricultural benefits in mind. Perhaps they could shift angles at certain times of the day which could reduce energy production slightly but ensure that the plants get enough sunlight.