The development of photovoltaics on agricultural land, between public regulations and stakeholder games.

The methods of developing photovoltaics on agricultural land in France are still very poorly documented and this article offers a contribution to understanding their implications. The authors explain how this development is taking place at the intersection of national public regulation, strategies of public and private actors, and emerging territorial dynamics. They show that the rules governing the use of land and the production of renewable energy constrain, but do not prohibit, photovoltaics on agricultural land. They identify a rule of priority for installation on artificialized spaces, but also four exceptions to the rule, all subject to interpretation processes. They then describe the strategies carried out in this context by agricultural stakeholders, public authorities and energy companies. At local levels, energy companies are looking for agricultural land taking into account the doctrines affirmed by public and agricultural stakeholders in the territories concerned. On a national scale, these companies are pleading for changes to the rules of the game, on the one hand to restrict regulatory obstacles to the installation of photovoltaics on agricultural land, and on the other hand to gain recognition for the approaches they present as demanding in the combination between agriculture and energy production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]