Update on Solar Regulations, Soil/Forage Research & Agrivoltaic Project Initiatives – Webinar Recording

An aerial view of 3 rows of 42 solar panels, between which crops are planted both in the ground and in raised beds. — *Aerial view of PEC’s agrivoltaics project at the Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows, Aldie, VA. Photo by Hugh Kenny, PEC.*

On December 5, 2025, Virginia Tech’s School of Plant & Environmental Sciences Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) hosted a webinar on updates around solar regulations, soil/forage research, and agrivoltaics project initiatives.

Slide showing headshots and information on presenters from PEC, Ashish Kapooor and Teddy Pitsiokos.

During the webinar, PEC Senior Energy & Climate Policy Advisor Ashish Kapoor and PEC Community Farm Manager Teddy Pitsiokos spoke about PEC’s PEC’s crop-based agrivoltaics project at the Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows. They reviewed the solar and agricultural setups, and how and why they chose those setups, with the goal of being able to replicate the project for farmers and others wanting to implement agrivoltaics in Virginia. In addition, the project serves as a demonstration site for people to interact with an agrivoltaics installation first-hand and learn about the many local advantages of small-scale agrivoltaics (see photo below).

They shared the process for implementing the project, including installing the solar panels and battery storage, planting the in-ground and planter bed crops, and the experimental and data collection process. Finally, they shared unexpected hurdles they encountered along the way, which they have documented so that others may learn from them.