Raised solar rows and crop plans so farmland keeps growing food
TL;DR Solarrows designs small farm solar plants so crops still grow under and between the panels, and then manages those crops for the owner. It works in dry districts where a bit of shade can save water. Plant owners and developers pay a design fee per megawatt plus a yearly crop-management fee.
India's farm solar scheme makes farmers pick a side. PM-KUSUM's Component A pays for grid-connected plants of up to 2 MW on farmers' land, and the government framed it as a way to use "barren" land[1]. Most small farmers have no barren land to spare. A standard ground-mounted plant packs low panels tightly and leaves little room for crops, so the field stops being a farm for 25 years.
Dry districts feel this the most. Water is short, summer heat stresses crops and a farmer who leases the whole plot loses the work along with the harvest.
I couldn't find any Indian public standard on how to lay out a plant so farming can carry on.
First, the important bit - Solarrows does design and farm-management services only. It does not sell power or own plants. Grid connection, power purchase and subsidy approvals stay with the plant owner and the state's PM-KUSUM agency[2].
Solarrows starts with the farm. It studies soil, water and what the farmer grows, then designs a layout with raised mounting, wider row gaps and panel heights that leave room for a tractor and for people. The aim is a known shade level for chosen crops like pulses, leafy vegetables, fodder or nursery plants.
After commissioning, Solarrows runs a crop plan for the plot, records yields under, between and outside the panels and reports both power and harvest to the owner.
I narrowed the broad seed into one job, because the evidence is mixed. A 2026 US modelling study found shade raised soybean profit in semi-arid areas but cut yields in humid ones[3]. So Solarrows should work only where the climate favours it, and it should measure every season.
The plant owner pays, whether that's a farmer group, an FPO or a developer building on leased farmland. Solarrows charges a design fee per megawatt and a yearly crop-management fee, and both prices are my assumptions and untested. The farmer gets lease or power income plus a crop that keeps going. A raised structure costs more than a standard one though, so the owner needs to see crop income that covers the difference.
Field evidence is building. A 2026 trial in a semi-arid sandy region of China recorded soybean yields 38% higher under panels than in open ground, though the comparison plots were also managed differently[4]. In France, one agrivoltaics developer has spent 15 years with the research institute INRAE refining panels that tilt to serve crops first[5]. And Component A's 10,000 MW target leaves room for designs that keep land in farming[1].
Nobody publishes a figure for agrivoltaic capacity in India, or for a design-and-crop-management market. The narrowest anchor is the scheme itself - Component A was set at 10,000 MW of plants of up to 2 MW each[1]. Check the PM-KUSUM portal for current targets and progress, as both may have changed since 2020[2].
A French agrivoltaics firm builds steerable shade over vines, orchards and field crops and reports average water savings of 41%, a company figure[5]. In India, a rural energy startup runs pay-per-use solar irrigation for smallholders across six districts[6], so it puts solar to farm use, though not over crops. Plant developers build standard layouts.
I found no Indian firm offering crop-first layouts with ongoing farm management.
| Difficulty | Hard (53/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹70 L–1.5 Cr |
| Time to launch | 9–12 months |
You need two skills that rarely sit in the same room, solar structural design and agronomy. Raised structures cost more and have to survive wind. The scheme's rules on land use and eligible layouts need checking state by state, and you need two seasons of yield data before owners will trust your numbers.
Solarrows designs and farms, it doesn't own the plant, so most permits sit with the plant owner. You still need to know them.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't trust AI alone on structural design or grid compliance. Those need a qualified engineer's sign-off.
Want to work out the AI layer for Solarrows? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
I think this is worth exploring for a founder team that has solar EPC and agronomy experience together, in a dry state with an active PM-KUSUM agency. If your team has only one of those skills then pass.
First prove one thing on a partner's plant - that crop income under raised rows covers the extra structure cost.
Plan for roughly ₹70 L–1.5 Cr for engineering staff, pilot sites and crop trials. The plant itself is paid for by the owner or developer.
Not as the designer. The plant owner handles PM-KUSUM approval and the DISCOM agreement, and land-use rules on farmland vary by state, so check locally.
Yes, the model works anywhere farmland and solar compete for space. Check your own country's solar subsidy rules and farmland zoning first.
The free Solarrows validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the scheme, grid and land-use checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for plant owners and farmers, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Solarrows or something close to it? The make-or-break work is showing that crops under raised panels pay for the taller structure, and that's the kind of number I help founders pressure-test. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.