energy
Aargau project tests whether solar power and farming can share land
A new 600-kilowatt agri-photovoltaic facility in Aargau will test whether farming and solar generation can share the same land.
A 600-kilowatt-peak solar facility is rising above farmland in Suhr, Aargau, as construction begins on a test of whether crops and electricity can share the same ground. Swiss energy company Axpo, the canton of Aargau and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, known as FiBL, are developing the project as part of the canton’s AgriSolar Research programme.
The installation will combine crop cultivation with photovoltaic generation on one plot. Its module racks will sit approximately three metres above the field, leaving space for farming equipment and crops beneath. A tracking system will adjust the panels’ orientation according to the season.
The project arrives as Switzerland searches for additional renewable electricity while pressure grows around land use. Solar installations can compete with agriculture when they occupy open ground, particularly in a country where available land is limited and farming remains central to rural economies. Agri-photovoltaics offers a way to test whether a single site can perform both functions.
Axpo said the facility will supply all of its electricity directly to the Emmi site, where the Swiss dairy foods processor will consume it. That arrangement gives the pilot a local industrial customer as well as an agricultural purpose. Construction was announced on October 9, 2026.
FiBL measures what the panels do to crops
FiBL will compare the solar-covered land with an eastern reference area to establish what the panels change on the ground. The trial covers 279 acres, while the solar modules occupy around 120 acres of that area. This layout gives researchers a basis for comparing fields managed under similar conditions.
The study will track crop yields, biodiversity and water flow. Researchers will also examine how cereals and maize respond to drought. Those measurements will determine whether the structures affect plant growth, soil conditions and the movement of rainwater through the field.
The panels’ seasonal tracking system adds another variable. Their orientation can change during the year, altering the amount of shade cast on the crops and the solar electricity produced. The elevated design also changes how rain reaches the ground and how machinery can move through the site.
The project does not assume that every crop will respond in the same way. Cereals and maize have different growing patterns and water needs, so the comparison could reveal where agri-photovoltaics works best and where it creates practical limits. FiBL’s role is to collect evidence across agricultural and ecological measures rather than judge the installation by electricity output alone.
That evidence will matter to farmers and planners deciding whether the technology belongs on productive farmland, orchards or other agricultural sites.