NJBPU greenlights 16 innovative agrivoltaics projects to boost farms and clean energy

August 18, 2026

Farming and clean energy are teaming up across the Garden State. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) officially approved 16 projects totaling over 52 megawatts in the very first round of its Dual-Use Pilot Agrivoltaics Program.

Established under the Dual-Use Solar Energy Act, the initiative allows agricultural land to do double duty by placing solar panels above or around crops and livestock grazing areas instead of taking farmland out of production entirely.

The newly awarded projects span across Atlantic, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Salem and Warren counties. Participating farms will pair solar generation with a variety of agricultural products—including soybeans, grains, vegetables, fruits and livestock—helping local farmers increase their profitability while simultaneously adding much-needed clean energy capacity to the state’s electric grid.

“This pilot dual-use program will enable us to support New Jersey farmers in making their operations more profitable while adding capacity to the grid,” NJBPU President Ben Hertz-Shargel said. “It ensures farmland remains in active agricultural or horticultural production while enhancing the value of established farming practices.”

The program is being carried out in close cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, the Department of Environmental Protection, the State Agriculture Development Committee, and Rutgers University’s Agrivoltaics Program.

“The BPU dual use pilot program is a great opportunity to see grid scale projects working with and around active agriculture production,” New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Ed Wengryn said. “This Pilot can help agriculture and the solar energy industry learn if active agriculture use can be a renewable energy partner in shaping New Jersey’s future.”

The pilot program could support up to 200 megawatts over a three-year span. Insights and lessons learned from these initial projects will help shape a permanent agrivoltaics framework for the state.

Here are the 16 projects awarded in the first solicitation of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ Dual-Use Pilot Agrivoltaics Program: