Solicits proposals for the Sun and Soil Program to provide offerings that support farmers and agricultural communities so they may benefit from the integration of solar energy and active agriculture. Program Opportunity Notice (PON 6206) is designed to help farmers, communities, supporting organizations, and businesses readily adopt and adapt integrations of solar energy in ways that sustain agriculture. PON 6206 supports the planning and implementation of innovative agrivoltaic projects including those that integrate battery storage for on-farm energy use, and applied research and problem-solving efforts to address market challenges, maximizes opportunities, and build capacity.

Eligible proposals for planning, feasibility assessments and initial preparation phase projects include both agrivoltaics projects for on-farm powering and those that export some or all solar production to the electrical grid, as well as solar energy and battery storage for on-farm energy projects. Eligible proposals for implementation and scaling phases include:

• Those that advance innovation in New York State by utilizing new or adapted technologies, equipment, or agricultural practices,
• Novel configurations or retrofits,
• Agricultural operations or regions in instances where agrivoltaics has not yet been commonly applied.
• Applied research, market solutions, guidance, training and/or other solutions to address barriers and challenges, capacity building and increased opportunities for integrating solar and active agriculture.