Lightsource bp championing sustainable agriculture at AgriVoltaics World Conference 2025

Lightsource bp was proud to be the Gold Sponsor at the AgriVoltaics World Conference 2025 in Freiburg, Germany, an event that has rapidly become a leading international platform for researchers, policymakers and industry leaders to address the challenges in the research and implementation of agrivoltaics systems.

Pioneering agrivoltaics since 2013

As one of the early adopters, Lightsource bp has been incorporating agrivoltaics into some of our solar projects since 2013 – allowing us to further deliver benefits to farming and other agriculture communities. Our commitment is clear: we incorporate agrivoltaics into our solar farms wherever it is appropriate and beneficial. Over the years, we have achieved significant milestones across different regions:

• EMEA: With more than 60 agrivoltaics projects in development, we’re integrating activities such as cattle grazing, hay production and annual cropping.
• United States: Our solar grazing program operates 3GW of managed grazing, with 21 family-owned grazing businesses overseeing 21,400 sheep across eight states.
• APAC: Our Wellington solar hub (Wellington South and Wellington North solar farms) is one of Australia’s largest operational agrivoltaics examples. Project Budai in Taiwan, our first fishery solar project globally, has started construction.

Sharing our expertise at the Conference

At the 2025 Conference in Freiburg, our delegation was honoured to contribute to the global exchange of knowledge with three key presentations:

• Emilien Simonot, Head of Agrivoltaics (EMEA): Highlighted the need for adaptive regulatory frameworks to address the diverse landscapes of large-scale agrivoltaics in Europe.
• Lexie Hain, Director of Agrivoltaics and Land Management (USA): Presented best practices for solar grazing based on comprehensive US studies, providing guidance for developers and land managers.
• Ina Schweizer, Principal Environmental Planner (Germany): Shared research from Wellington Solar Farm in Australia, demonstrating how grazing merino sheep under solar panels can enhance wool production and support livestock welfare.

Insights and takeaways

We valued the vibrant exchanges with the agrivoltaics community. Emilien Simonot said, “Inspiring to see our community growing stronger and more mature every year. Research keeps advancing, but big questions remain — and aligning with real-world challenges is vital. The opportunity is real: science is shaping better agrivoltaics solutions, and policies must stay flexible to help us learn faster.”

Lexie Hain valued the importance of knowledge exchange with the international agrivoltaics community, “This year’s conference theme was ‘challenges in agrivoltaics’. I believe our team now feels much better equipped to engage with and overcome these challenges. Let’s advance this field together and have fun along the way!”

Looking Ahead

Lightsource bp will continue to invest in research, promote best practices tailored to local needs and drive sustainable value for our partners, people and planet.

Discover more about Lightsource bp’s agrivoltaics initiatives and connect with our Conference delegates.