THERE'S NOTHING MORE TRADITIONAL THAN THE FUTURE:

As the Clean Energy Council reasoned in an industry paper in 2021, dual use of land tapped for solar farms, much of it at one time used to grow crops or livestock, could help solve problems of grid access and social licence for new large-scale PV projects.

If done right, the paper argues, solar farms can improve both grazing and crop land, while allowing solar farms to be built in areas where the electricity network is strong, providing a win-win for both solar developers and farmers.

Currently in Australia, some of the most common public objections to new solar developments - including another  big Lightsource bp project, the 400MW Gundary solar farm near Goulburn - is that they will lock up valuable agricultural land.

But new feedback from a couple of farmers who have taken the solar leap reveals that the addition of panels has greatly increased the value of their farming operations.

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