4.95-MW agrivoltaic solar farm with hay cultivation to provide 10 % cheaper power in US

A 4.95-megawatt (MW) agrivoltaic solar project has secured approval in Illinois, paving the way for a community solar facility that will continue producing hay while generating renewable electricity.

According to a press statement, the Paxton City Council Tuesday (November 3) approved an annexation agreement for the Baltimore Drive Solar Project, allowing the roughly 35-acre site to become part of the city and enabling property tax revenue from the development to flow directly to Paxton. Residents, businesses, and public institutions subscribing to the community solar project are expected to save about 10% on their electricity bills, the statement said.

Unlike conventional solar farms that often remove farmland from production, the project has been designed as an agrivoltaic installation, allowing crops to grow beneath and between rows of solar panels.

Solar panels, hay to share same land

Developed by Lightstar Renewables, a Boston-based solar energy company, the project will occupy around 30 acres of leased agricultural land while preserving hay production throughout the site’s operational life.

The facility will use single-axis solar trackers, which rotate throughout the day to follow the sun and increase electricity generation compared with fixed-tilt panels. The trackers will stand up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) high, leaving enough clearance for agricultural machinery to continue cutting and baling hay beneath the arrays.

The site will also be enclosed with livestock-style fencing designed to blend into the surrounding agricultural landscape.

Unlike many modern utility-scale solar facilities, the Baltimore Drive project will not include battery energy storage. Instead, electricity generated by the installation will flow directly into the local distribution grid through an existing grid interconnection selected for its capacity and proximity.

The company said the project builds on experience gained from New York’s first permitted agrivoltaics installation at DiMartino Farm, where hay continues to be harvested alongside solar panels.

Community solar with local benefits

The project will participate in Illinois’ community solar program, allowing households, businesses, and public entities to subscribe without installing rooftop solar panels. Subscribers receive bill credits based on their share of the project’s electricity output, with expected savings of approximately 10 percent on electricity costs.

The agreement also creates long-term financial benefits for the city.

According to the developer, the project will support city revenues for decades while placing little additional demand on municipal infrastructure such as water, sewer, and schools. A separate community benefits agreement will provide additional financial contributions to Paxton.

Last October, Baltimore County, Maryland, switched on its first large-scale ground-mounted solar farm, transforming the former Parkton Landfill into a hub of clean energy generation.

The 7-megawatt installation spanned more than 213 acres and featured four solar arrays with nearly 15,000 ground-mounted photovoltaic panels. In its first year alone, the site was expected to generate around 8.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity—enough to supply roughly 11 percent of the county government’s annual power needs, according to a report.

The recent project in Illinois demonstrates how agrivoltaics can combine renewable power generation with continued agricultural production, allowing farmland to deliver both crops and clean energy from the same acreage.

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