Can AgriPV help Nepal produce more energy without sacrificing farmland?

Lessons from early agrivoltaic projects in Nepal's Himalayan foothills 

On a solar farm in Nepal’s Koshi Province, panels are raised high enough for crops to grow underneath. This is agricultural photovoltaics—usually shortened to AgriPV or agrivoltaics. It uses the same land to produce electricity and food, rather than setting the two uses against each other. 

The idea could be valuable in Nepal. Only about one-fifth of the country’s land is arable, while farming remains central to rural livelihoods. Some farmland is left unused because irrigation is unreliable; people have migrated, or farming no longer pays. Nepal also wants more solar power to complement its hydropower, especially during the dry season.  

Nepal's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0 targets 28,500 MW of electricity generation by 2035, with around 15% expected from renewable sources such as solar, wind and bioenergy. As solar deployment expands, the challenge is how to meet energy goals without creating new competition for agricultural land. However, poorly planned solar development could increase pressure on farmland, well-designed AgriPV could make limited land more productive. 

What Nepal’s early projects show 

Several private-sector projects are already testing the approach. Pashupati Renewables is growing crops including turmeric, ginger, lentils and citrus around a 25-megawatt solar plant utilizing bifacial solar panels in Lumbini Province. Eco Renewables has mounted panels on two-metre pillars in Koshi Province and is testing potatoes, onions, papaya and other crops below them. They report encouraging early results, including higher crop yields than in nearby open fields, but independent trials are still needed before such results can be applied more widely. 

Another example is G.I. Solar's 6.8 MW AgriPV project in Morang District, commissioned in 2023. Spread across 9.4 hectares, the project plans to combine electricity generation with experimentation and learning on agriculture, water management and community engagement. 

From these pilots we learn that Nepal is no longer asking whether Agri-PV can work in Nepal. It is rather grappling with the bigger question: how can Agri-PV in Nepal scale in a way beyond pilots that benefits smallholder farmers, women entrepreneurs, developers, and the country’s energy, food, and water security transition simultaneously? 

These pilots suggest that AgriPV could help smallholders in four practical ways. (I) It could keep land in production while generating energy; (II) provide shade that can reduce heat and water loss from soil; (III) support irrigation by collecting rainwater and reusing water from panel cleaning; and (IV) create additional income from crops, land agreements or shared energy revenues. But none of these benefits is automatic. 

What must change for farmers to benefit 

First, farming must shape the design from the start. Raised and well-spaced panels can cost more than conventional ground-mounted solar systems. Yet Nepal currently pays the same electricity tariff for both types of project. Because electricity provides most project revenue, developers have little financial incentive to invest in designs that actively support agricultural production. A clear and dedicated framework for AgriPV should therefore define how much agricultural activity a project must maintain and how its performance will be monitored to avoid Agri PV simply as solar expansion on agricultural land rather than a genuine energy-food synergy.  

Second, water must be integrated into each project’s design. Panels need cleaning, which can increase demand for scarce water. Systems should capture rain and cleaning runoff, use efficient irrigation, monitor soil moisture and, where suitable, recharge groundwater. Research from South Asian pilot sites indicates that panel shading reduces reference evapotranspiration by approximately 16% and yields up to 25% savings in irrigation water by enhancing soil moisture retention. However, Nepal still needs field trials across different agroecological zones to determine which crops and farming systems benefit most. 

Third, the business model must work for farmers as well as developers. Nepal should test incentives that reward genuine dual use, alongside affordable loans or public support for the higher initial cost. Agreements must spell out who controls the land, who carries the farming risk, and how income is shared. Nepal needs a policy to guide this. Smallholders, women, tenant farmers and landless workers need a voice in these decisions and protection from displacement. This is particularly important in Nepal, where women increasingly manage farms due to male outmigration, yet often have limited influence over land-use and investment decisions.  

During the March 2026 workshop, Shilp Verma from IWMI mentions “South Asia should not look at Agri-PV only through the fear of losing farmland. Urbanization is already consuming far more agricultural land than solar. The real challenge is making land and rural livelihoods more productive”. This requires a detailed understanding of different scales of Agri-PV projects, their purpose and stakeholders, and more importantly, focusing on farmer-centred Agri-PV models. 

From promising pilots to responsible scale 

The CGIAR Scaling for Impact Program is helping Nepal move from isolated pilots towards a shared approach. Through its South Asia Scaling Hub, anchored at the International Water Management Institute, the program brought government, solar developers, researchers, students and development partners together in March 2026. 

Working with Nepal’s Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, Gham Power, and the  Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the workshop shared early experience from Nepal and regional experience from India, and identified the barriers that must be addressed before expansion. 

This contribution has helped sharpen the question. The issue is not simply whether AgriPV works, but which designs, and financing arrangements deliver measurable value to both farmers and developers at scale. Priority actions include field trials across agroecological zones, farmer-centred design guidelines, enabling financing mechanisms for investors, water-integrated project designs, and clear benefit-sharing arrangements for smallholders, women farmers and tenant farmers from the outset. Nepal needs a policy instruments  to guide these arrangements. The Scaling Hub and its partners can support field evidence, farmer-centred design guidelines and investment models that link research, policy, finance and delivery. 

AgriPV can support Nepal’s smallholders—but only if sustaining agricultural production, ensuring reliable water access, strengthening farm incomes, and protecting farmers’ rights and livelihoods are treated as core project outcomes rather than side benefits. AgriPV must therefore be viewed through an integrated water–energy–food lens, not simply as a solar technology for generating electricity.