Agrivoltaism: how to finance the agriculture of tomorrow through responsible investment?

‍What if your savings could, at the same time, help a farmer and supply green electricity to French territory? That's possible with agrivoltaism! This system involves installing solar panels on agricultural land while maintaining its primary farming purpose.

Seen as a response to current and future challenges, agrivoltaism is gradually establishing itself as a lever serving two major transitions: the agricultural one and the energy and ecological one. To rise to this challenge, one of the key axes for developing and deploying agrivoltaism is financing through responsible investment platforms. Hectarea, a platform specializing in sustainable agricultural land, allows you to become a co-owner of the land, while Enerfip, a platform dedicated to energy and ecological transition projects, allows you to finance the solar infrastructure deployed on it. Two ways to support farmers, and one shared conviction: that the agricultural and energy transition must be built together. Let's break it down.

The context

The numbers speak for themselves. INSEE (the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) confirms that 18% of farming households live below the poverty line in France. Behind this figure lies a painful reality: difficult farming conditions, helpless livestock farmers, closing farms, land that no longer produces... And unfortunately, that's not all! At the same time, the agricultural world faces climate disruption that weakens crops and forces a rethinking of economic models.

Faced with these crises coming from all directions, French agriculture is being reshaped. Resilient, it is joining forces with the energy and ecological transition sector to produce in a new way. It is in this context of adaptation within the agricultural market that agrivoltaism was born. Emerging as a concrete, viable, and promising solution, it allows farmers and livestock breeders to maintain their operations while producing clean energy. This coexistence hints at a new agricultural model: more sustainable, more profitable, and more rooted in current and future challenges.

What is agrivoltaism?

In the French Energy Code (Art. L314-36), agrivoltaism is defined as "an electricity generation installation using the radiant energy of the sun, whose modules are located on agricultural land where they make a lasting contribution to the establishment, maintenance, or development of agricultural production." This means that an agrivoltaic installation must provide added value to the farmer or the plot, such as protection against hazards, improved animal welfare, adaptation to climate change, or improvement of agronomic potential and impact. If the energy infrastructure substantially harms any of these elements, it cannot be considered agrivoltaic. It is also worth noting that an agrivoltaic installation must be reversible and cannot be the primary activity of the agricultural plot.

In 2024, ADEME, the French ecological transition agency, created an Agrivoltaism Observatory to collect data on agrivoltaic installations and produce analyses to monitor and support the sector's development in France. This can take the form of maps of photovoltaic installations on agricultural plots, descriptive fact sheets, quantitative indicators, or bibliographic resources. The primary objective is to study the effects of renewable energies, including solar photovoltaic, on biodiversity, soil, and landscapes.

Why is agrivoltaism an investment opportunity?

Agrivoltaism is not just a concept; it has already proven itself! Supported by public policy, this sector has been structuring itself over the years in terms of regulation, but also in terms of financing. The APER law (Acceleration of Renewable Energy Production) of 2023 addresses the challenges of climate disruption and the energy crisis by establishing a clear regulatory framework that secures projects and strengthens investor visibility.

Moreover, for farmers, agrivoltaism represents a promise of supplementary income. On one hand, the sale of solar electricity provides a predictable revenue stream. On the other hand, agricultural income continues to flow from the same land, reinforcing the overall economic resilience of the project. The result? More solid projects and farmers better able to anticipate certain climate-related risks.

For you, as an investor, putting your money into agrivoltaism allows you to direct your savings toward meaningful, sustainable projects aligned with your values. You choose to invest in favor of more resilient agriculture and cleaner energy. Your financial commitment is, in reality, also a civic commitment.

Concrete and complementary solutions

Hectarea: investing in sustainable agricultural land

Founded by Adime Amoukou and Paul Rodrigues, Hectarea is a mission-driven company guided by a strong conviction: making access to agricultural land simpler, more transparent, and more sustainable.

• Its ambition? Remove the barriers in the agricultural sector, namely the cost of land acquisition, by connecting citizens and farmers.
• How? Hectarea has created a dedicated structure, Hectarea La Foncière. It purchases carefully selected agricultural land and allows you to invest from €100, in the form of rural bonds with a duration of 7 to 10 years.
• What is it for? This capital allows the farmer and/or livestock breeder to access land they could not have financed alone, through an environmental rural lease that reduces their costs and secures their economic model over the long term.
• What is the return? The farmer pays a monthly land rent, redistributed proportionally to investors in the form of regular income.
• Concretely, how to get started? The intuitive Hectarea platform allows you to choose the project that suits you based on your selection criteria (type of crop or livestock, values, time horizons, interest rate, etc.). Once you have selected your investment, simply create your account and subscribe online from €100. Each month thereafter, you will receive your share of the land rent directly in your investor dashboard.

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Invest on Hectarea

Enerfip: financing the development of renewable energies

Founded in 2014 by experts in finance and renewable energy, Enerfip is France's leading platform for responsible investment dedicated to energy and ecological transition projects.

• Its ambition? Allow everyone to choose what their savings finance, to help build the world of tomorrow that everyone envisions.
• How? As an intermediary between project developers and investors, Enerfip facilitates access to financing for responsible, high-performing, diversified, and locally grounded projects dedicated to the energy and ecological transition.
• What is it for? On one hand, this financing allows project developers to finalize their financing plan, build their infrastructure, and move their project forward. On the other hand, it allows you to invest in meaningful projects and thus support the transition toward more sustainable energy sources.
• What is the return? As an investor, you receive interest, generally between 4% and 10%, paid regularly throughout the project.
• Concretely, how to get started? On our platform, investing in renewable energies couldn't be simpler! Just browse the available projects and choose the one that matches your expectations (location, duration, interest rate, type of energy, etc.). Once you have selected your project, simply create your account and subscribe online from €10. You can then track the project's progress in your personal dashboard.

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Invest on Enerfip

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Investing carries a risk of capital loss and liquidity risk. Only invest money you do not need immediately and diversify your savings.