Massachusetts Farmer Grows Broccoli Under Solar Panels

Joe Czajkowski faced a choice many American farmers know too well: watch his family's farm slowly go under, or find a creative way to survive.

The third-generation farmer in Hadley, Massachusetts, chose innovation. He planted solar panels right above his broccoli field, creating what's called an agrivoltaics system where crops and clean energy grow side by side.

The results changed his life. Since the 445-kilowatt solar array went live in 2024, Czajkowski earns eight to ten times more per acre than traditional corn farming while still harvesting vegetables exactly as he always has. The panels don't interfere with his broccoli at all.

"A lot of farms are working with negative margins right now on crops, and they have been for about four years," Czajkowski explains. The solar lease income makes the difference between keeping his land and selling it to real estate developers.

He's not alone in this discovery. Across the country in Virginia, the Piedmont Environmental Council turned a plot destined to become a shopping center into Roundabout Meadows Community Farm. The 170-acre farm now grows over 50,000 pounds of produce annually under solar panels, donating almost all of it to food pantries.

The financial math is compelling. While a corn field might gross $750 per acre on a good year, the same space with solar panels generates $6,000 to $10,000. For family farms operating on razor-thin margins, that difference is survival.

Czajkowski started small, installing panels on his carrot packing facility roof first. The savings let him transform a building used only six months yearly into a year-round asset. Now he's racing to add solar to two more fields before federal tax incentives phase out.

The Ripple Effect

The benefits extend far beyond individual farm bank accounts. When farmers install solar, the money stays local instead of going to distant power companies. Communities strengthen as agricultural land stays agricultural instead of becoming strip malls.

"I would rather see the power come from your neighboring farmer," Czajkowski says. "The money stays right in the neighborhood."

Groups like Virginia's Piedmont Environmental Council are deliberately designing projects to bring agricultural communities into the conversation. Their pilot agrivoltaics project shows skeptical farmers and local officials that solar and crops truly can coexist, testing different plant arrangements and adding battery backup for energy independence.

Czajkowski's advice to fellow farmers is simple: go for it. The alternative is watching family land disappear under pavement or seeing another generation give up on farming altogether.