Date of Award

12-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Agricultural and Applied Economics

Committee Chair/Advisor

Anastasia Thayer

Committee Member

Felipe de Figueiredo Silva

Committee Member

Michael Vassalos

Committee Member

Dawoon Jeong

Abstract

Utility-scale solar development increasingly competes with farmland in the United States, where the agricultural sector accounts for 5.5% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Agrivoltaics, the integration of solar panels and agricultural production, offers a potential solution by generating electricity while producing agricultural outputs. The Southeastern United States demonstrates significant potential for solar energy expansion, given its high solar irradiance and the presence of approximately 280,000 farms (USDA, 2022). This thesis examines agrivoltaics primarily from the perspective of how informational framing is key to fostering adoption. To identify farmers’ willingness to lease their land, an ordered logistic regression is used with survey data on South Carolina farmers. The primary objective of this thesis is to investigate whether providing additional information about agrivoltaics influences agricultural producers’ willingness to lease. Additionally, the association between other variables, such as farm sales, attitudes regarding environmental trade-offs, and willingness to take financial risks, is tested. Results indicate that information results in a greater willingness to lease, and, more specifically, a reduction in a farmer’s unwillingness to lease their land. These results can better inform extension agents and policy makers on strategies to promote adoption, as well as help developers and utilities better site land for proposed sites.

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