Harvests of solar light: Italian agriculture in the age of the photovoltaic era

• Italian farms adopt PV mainly when holders are highly educated and diversified. • Investment size depends on land, buildings, and altitude rather than farmer traits. • Solar PV on farms can stabilise income but may trade off with agricultural productivity. • Many structurally suitable farms still do not invest, revealing large untapped PV potential. This study quantifies the structural determinants of photovoltaic (PV) adoption and investment intensity among Italian farms within the Food-Water-Energy-Environment nexus. Based on 167,081 FADN-RICA observations (2008–2023), only 2.9% of professional farms currently produce solar energy, yet 33.5% display structural profiles compatible with PV adoption, revealing substantial untapped potential. LASSO-based logistic models show that higher education (β = 0.139, p < 0.001), organic certification (β = 0.408, p < 0.01), machinery intensity (β = 0.004, p < 0.001) and cooperative/association legal forms (β = 2.1–3.5, p < 0.01) significantly increase adoption probabilities, while Southern regions exhibit markedly lower uptake (β = −2.091, p < 0.001) despite superior solar resources. Transformation Trees identify five farm typologies with differentiated agricultural–energy integration patterns. Policy implications include targeted advisory services for structurally ready farms, simplified grid and net-metering rules for small systems, streamlined permitting and long-term contracts for large extensive farms, spatially differentiated measures to close the North–South gap, and embedding renewable energy indicators into CAP strategic plans..