Agrisolar News: Round 26 outcome and next steps

The Federal Government has announced the outcome of Round 26 of the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program. While the Agrisolar CRC submission was not successful, reaching the final stage of a highly competitive selection process reflects the strength of our proposal and the extraordinary commitment of our industry, research and regional partners.

The bid demonstrated how co-locating solar energy generation with agricultural production can deliver measurable economic, environmental and social benefits for regional communities, including:

• Diversified and more stable farm income
• Skilled jobs and new revenue streams
• Improved soil health and biodiversity outcomes
• Enhanced on-farm climate resilience
• Meaningful contributions to Australia’s decarbonisation goals

Importantly, it confirmed both the technical readiness and strong market interest in advancing agrisolar at scale. The CRC process has sharpened our research priorities, deepened collaboration across sectors and strengthened a national coalition committed to advancing agrisolar. The bid team are now engaging with key stakeholders and all partners of the existing bid to discuss next steps, including our revised submission in the next CRC round (Round 27), which is underway and due towards the end of April. We are deeply grateful to our partners and supporters who continue to contribute to this venture.

Agrisolar is an idea whose time has come, and we're just getting started!

The Agrisolar CRC Bid Team