{
  "id": 18726846,
  "title": "These cranberry bogs come with a side of solar",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/07/these-cranberry-bogs-come-with-a-side-of-solar",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-07T14:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Grist",
    "slug": "grist",
    "url": "https://grist.org/solutions/these-cranberry-bogs-come-with-a-side-of-solar/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "During cranberry season in southeastern Massachusetts, growers are reaping the ruby-red berries destined for holiday treats. However, at two cranberry farms, the process is a bit more innovative. Pickers maneuver equipment around metal poles beneath solar panels, creating the first cranberry farms in the country, possibly the world, to grow berries beneath operating solar installations. This is the second season cranberries have been harvested from beneath the panels.\n\nPrateek Tare, co-founder and executive vice president of Distributed Energy Infrastructure, stated that they are \"literally proving it can be done.\" His company built two projects: a 4.4-megawatt array paired with a 13.5-megawatt-hour battery in Kingston, and a 1-MW solar array in neighboring Plymouth. Massachusetts, aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, has long incentivized solar development. However, locating solar projects in densely populated, heavily wooded states with pre-existing land use has been contentious.\n\nThe solution Massachusetts has encouraged is agrivoltaics, or dual-use solar, integrating solar panels with active agricultural operations. This approach allows land to generate energy while crops or livestock thrive beneath the elevated arrays. Massachusetts introduced a financial incentive for dual-use solar projects in 2018, offering a higher rate for agrivoltaic systems compared to conventional solar installations.\n\nIn Kingston and Plymouth, the clean energy developer Greenbacker Renewables purchased land from farmers ready to retire from cranberry farming. Greenbacker then collaborated with Distributed Energy Infrastructure to install the solar arrays and hired Iain Ward, a solar consultant and former cranberry farmer, to manage the growing operations. Both projects employ a community solar model, selling power to customers seeking lower prices and environmental benefits from renewable energy.\n\nAs successful in Kingston and Plymouth, agrivoltaic opportunities for Distributed Energy Infrastructure include installations in apple orchards, a cattle pasture, and a Christmas tree farm. Plans for other cranberry farms and a stalled project in Carver may also move forward. While the initial development has been slow, Ward anticipates increasing momentum and learning from each project to expedite future cranberry agrivoltaic installations.",
  "summary": "Two Massachusetts projects are the nation’s first to grow cranberries beneath solar panels, in another example of how agriculture and clean energy can coexist.",
  "key_points": [
    "First cranberry farms in US grow berries beneath solar panels",
    "Distributed Energy Infrastructure built 4.4-MW and 1-MW solar projects",
    "Agrivoltaic model integrates solar with cranberry farming"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}