A large number of solar panels could soon invade the fields near you.
Wind turbines are not always well received, because despite their capacity to produce renewable energy, for some they damage the landscape. In order not to disturb residents, the rule imposes a minimum distance of 500 m between a wind turbine and a home. And what if the question extended to solar panels? These could indeed soon multiply almost everywhere in France.
After lengthy negotiations between the administration, energy companies and the agricultural world, a decree was published in the Official Journal in April, on the development of agrivoltaics, supplemented by an order published in July. It concerns in particular the deployment of solar panels in fields in order to produce electricity. The objective is to reach 100 GW of capacity by 2035 in France, five times more than at present.
To achieve these objectives, solar panels could be installed even in fields that are also home to animals or plants, in other words in “pastures, orchards and market gardening land”. The decree does not provide for any size limit, the only requirement being that “the height of the agrivoltaic installation and the spacing between rows allow for normal operation and ensure in particular the circulation, physical safety and shelter of animals as well as, if the plots are mechanisable, the passage of agricultural machinery”.
The text also provides that “the area which is no longer exploitable due to the agrivoltaic installation does not exceed 10% of the total area covered by the agrivoltaic installation” and that “the coverage rate […] does not exceed 40%”. There are no rules regarding proximity to homes, however, except that each project must be compatible with the Local Urban Planning Plan (PLU), that it is carried out on non-constructible land and that it is reversible. It is therefore essential to check with the town hall the specific urban planning rules for your residential area.
The risk of seeing more solar panels, but also higher ones (for cohabitation with a herd for example) is therefore real. Hundreds of panel installation projects were waiting for the publication of the decree to get started and many should see the light of day between September 2024 and 2025. Enough to cause a stir. Young farmers and the Peasant Confederation have denounced a risk of “land confiscation and artificialization of land”, according to West FranceThey would prefer the signs to be placed on car parks or supermarket roofs.
If agrivoltaics can become a supplement to farmers’ income, the maintenance of agricultural production will be controlled by the Departmental Directorates of the Territories. In addition, methods of control and sanctions in the event of non-compliance with the rules are planned. They could go “as far as the dismantling of the installation in question with restoration of the plot”, according to the Ministry of Industry.