A Techno-Economic-Ecological Systems Approach to Sustainable Agrivoltaics Development: Current Advancements, Key Challenges, and Future Directions

Agrivoltaics (AgV) addresses land-use sustainability challenges by colocating solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with agricultural activities. This dual-use approach mitigates land competition between food and energy production, enhances agricultural resilience, and curbs land conversion. This paper begins with a review of recent global AgV research (2021–2025), which focuses primarily on technological and economic advances, particularly PV innovation and crop compatibility under open-field conditions. However, broader environmental and societal dimensions must also be integrated to achieve sustainable scale-up. Achieving the 2035 US target of 40% solar electricity would require 5.7 million acres of PV installations. Although the US has 1.2 billion acres of agricultural land, overlapping land requirements highlight AgV’s untapped potential to alleviate future land-use conflicts. To address these challenges, this paper proposes systems-based perspectives integrating technological, economic, and ecological dimensions. Three research directions are emphasized for US AgV development: (1) assessing land suitability for cultivation, grazing, and pollinator habitats; (2) evaluating benefit-cost trade-offs of retrofitting PV farms; and (3) valuing ecosystem service contributions, such as carbon sequestration, water conservation, soil retention, and air quality improvements, to rebalance financial incentives. These perspectives aim to strengthen techno-economic-ecological synergies and support resilient food-energy-land systems aligned with sustainable development goals.