Iowa Farmers Harvest Energy And Crops As Solar Panels Bloom With Produce

Iowa farmers are planting more than corn these days. They’re harvesting sunshine too, and the numbers don’t lie. From a measly 2 megawatts in 2012 to over 627 megawatts by March 2024, solar capacity has exploded across the state’s 99 counties. That’s right, every single county has gotten in on the action.

Iowa’s solar capacity exploded from 2 megawatts to 627 megawatts in just twelve years

The growth is nuts. Between 2016 and 2022, distributed solar systems jumped 33% annually. Farmers aren’t just watching from the sidelines either. Nearly 10,000 solar projects have sprouted up statewide, with everyone from mega-farms to mom-and-pop operations cashing in on tax credits.

Even rooftop panels alone could theoretically power 20% of Iowa’s electricity needs. But here’s the kicker: despite all this growth, solar still represents just 1% of Iowa’s total electricity generation. Wind got there first, and it shows. Iowa ranks a disappointing 34th in solar generation nationally. Back in 2019, the state was ranked 40th among U.S. states in solar power installation. Apparently being a wind power giant means you’re late to the solar party.

The real action is coming though. Approved projects like Worthwhile Solar Farm West will add 300 megawatts alone. Big Dave Solar Farm? Another 300. Duane Arnold’s three phases could dump 430 megawatts into the grid. If everything planned actually gets built, Iowa will blast past 2,500 megawatts of solar capacity. With 34 utility-scale projects in the pipeline totaling 4,634 MW, the state could see a 17.7-fold increase from 2022 levels.

The state’s policies helped, sort of. Net metering lets farmers sell excess power back to the grid, though it caps out at 500 kilowatts. Farmers Electrical Cooperative offers feed-in tariffs too, but only for 25% of your juice. Classic Iowa, generous but not too generous. The trend mirrors nationwide growth, where solar now accounts for 61% of additions to new electric-generating capacity in 2024.

Sky Factory in Fairfield showed everyone it could work back in 2012, becoming the first Iowa company to run entirely on solar. Cedar Falls followed with the state’s first utility-scale plant in 2016.

Now Dubuque hosts a 3.8-megawatt array, currently the biggest around, though not for long. The transformation is real. Iowa’s fields aren’t just growing crops anymore. They’re growing kilowatts, and farmers are learning that sunshine pays better than soybeans some years.