Higgins sees agrivoltaics as a long-term investment with substantial economic returns. With about a $1-trillion private-sector investment spread out over 35 years, he projects a 17-year payback period, after which the solar panels would generate more than $35 billion in revenue.

Jobs, clean energy, support for farmers, economic stimulus-- seems like the type of thing that the Build Back Better plan was made for

Tom, an excellent report. I live in the HOT  Phoenix Arizona area. Solar pv panels provide shade as well as power. The ASU  campus has lots of shade from Solar pv panels so students and buildings are cooler. They also have edible plants and trees all over campus. 

    Wind and solar pv has helped many farmers increase their earnings while still farming with no loss in area to grow. It's a great combination. 

    We have also planned to add solar pv over the canals to stop some of the evapoation of the precious water flowing in our area. All of these projects pay off in many ways. 

Excellent report. When you see work like this being done in the DER world, it gives me hope that we can achieve some remarkable things when we put our minds to it. This was an eye opener to me in that I have too often seen solar farms as destroying the function and natural beauty of the land.