Solar panels are bringing idle cranberry bogs back to life

Two cranberry bogs in Massachusetts, Black Cat in Plymouth and Ring Road in Kingston, are growing berries again after sitting idle, thanks to solar panels installed overhead. The approach is a form of agrivoltaics, where solar power and farming share the same land. Income from leasing the land for solar made it financially worthwhile to farm the bogs again, with payments going both to the landowner and to the farmer managing the crop.

Building solar over a working cranberry bog took extra care. The soil is soft and peaty, and the vines are long-established, so crews couldn't use standard heavy equipment or methods. Panels were raised 10 feet up with wide spacing between rows, so farm machinery could still move underneath and sunlight could still reach the berries. Even small details mattered, like swapping black protective mats for white ones so they wouldn't overheat the vines. The careful construction took about twice as long as a typical solar project, roughly eight months.

The sites are owned by Greenbacker Renewables. Black Cat combines 1 megawatt of solar with battery storage, while Ring Road has a larger 4.4 megawatt solar setup with a bigger battery. This isn't something most homeowners can replicate, but it points to a broader trend: solar power is increasingly being paired with farmland rather than replacing it, which can help keep struggling farms, including the source of your Thanksgiving cranberry sauce, in business.