Agrivoltaic suitable areas in Italy, a fast-evolving regulatory framework

Italy's agrivoltaic sector is going through a period of strong interest and progressive regulatory development. The clearest signal comes from the market. The PNRR funding scheme dedicated to this technology received 643 funding applications when its first window closed in September 2024, covering more than 1.7 GW of total capacity and over €920 million in requested contributions, against an available budget of €1.1 billion.

During 2025, the procedures led to the selection of more than 700 projects, representing close to 2 GW of potential installed capacity, with the goal of delivering 1.04 GW of new plants by 30 June 2026.

These figures show a rapidly evolving sector with an increasingly strategic role in Italy's energy transition, while also highlighting further opportunities for growth beyond government incentives.

The main challenge remains regulation, which must balance two equally important needs. On the one hand, rules are needed to manage the use of cultivated land without exposing high-value agriculture to energy speculation. On the other, policymakers need to support a technology that, unlike conventional ground-mounted solar PV, is designed to deliver tangible benefits to crops.

The first step towards greater clarity came with the introduction of a specific definition of an agrivoltaic plant into national legislation. The aim was to clearly distinguish agrivoltaics from conventional ground-mounted solar and establish design characteristics that ensure compatibility with agricultural activities.

More specifically, Law No. 4 of 15 January 2026, converting Decree-Law 175/2025, amended the Consolidated Renewable Energy Act, Legislative Decree 190/2024, by introducing into Article 4 a definition of agrivoltaics as a system characterised by panels installed at an adequate height above the ground to ensure the continuity of crop cultivation and pastoral activities at the installation site.

Alongside this definition, the legislation introduced a series of criteria that, while recognising the specific relationship between agrivoltaics and agriculture, remain the subject of discussion among institutions, industry associations and operators.

These include maintaining Gross Saleable Production, or PLV under the Italian definition, as a parameter for verifying that agricultural activity has not been sacrificed, requiring technical certification by a qualified professional, defining what constitutes land of "high agricultural value", and establishing the proportion of agricultural land that can be allocated to installations.

National legislation sets this threshold at between 0.8% and 3% of Utilised Agricultural Area, or SAU under the Italian definition. Plants of up to 12 MW located in suitable areas are subject to the Simplified Authorisation Procedure, known as PAS.


How Italy regions are defining suitable agricultural areas


The most significant issue is how individual Italian regions and autonomous provinces are defining their own suitable agricultural areas, and whether they are taking the specific characteristics of their territories into account.

This is the regulatory space intentionally left open by national lawmakers. Over the past year, several regional administrations have moved to adopt their own laws or draft legislation covering additional suitable areas beyond those identified in Italy's Consolidated Renewable Energy Act.

For African policymakers and energy-sector professionals following the development of agrivoltaics, Italy's regional approach provides an example of how rules for solar deployment on agricultural land can vary according to local land-use priorities.


Piedmont


For suitable agricultural areas, the law approved by Piedmont on 21 July 2026 remains within the limits established by national legislation. It sets a threshold of 0.8% of regional SAU while adding a 2% limit at municipal level, rising to 3% for Renewable Energy Communities, or CER, and industrial self-consumption.

The new rules require the regional government to establish detailed criteria for installations and monitoring procedures for agrivoltaic plants.

Regional legislation will take different configurations into account, including systems that are not elevated above the ground, provided they are compatible with the continuity of agricultural activity, existing crops and the mandatory agronomic plan.

The Piedmont legislation also introduces an anti-fragmentation mechanism under which applications from related parties in neighbouring areas are considered together.


Lombardy


Lombardy, which approved its law on 12 May 2026, adopted a similar framework for suitable agricultural areas. The limit is 0.8% of SAU at regional level, with possible exemptions of up to 3% at municipal level for CER and industrial self-consumption, as well as a 2% limit at provincial level.

For agrivoltaics, the region has established a series of requirements: a certified agronomic report, soil and microclimate monitoring systems, maintenance of 80% of PLV and periodic inspections starting from the third year of operation.

If agricultural production falls, a recovery plan is mandatory.


Veneto


With the draft law approved by its regional government on 28 July 2026, Veneto opted for the lowest threshold permitted under national legislation: 0.8% of regional SAU, equivalent to around 6,681 hectares out of more than 835,000 hectares available.

Municipalities, however, are given greater flexibility, with a standard threshold of up to 2%, rising to 3% for industrial self-consumption and CER.

For agrivoltaic plants between 5 MW and 12 MW, the legislation links access to the simplified authorisation procedure to two specific conditions: a certified declaration confirming the maintenance of 80% of PLV and the involvement of a farmer as the project owner.


Emilia-Romagna


Emilia-Romagna, which approved its law on 28 May 2026, stands out for using a SAU calculation system differentiated by technology.

Conventional ground-mounted solar accounts for 100% of the fenced area, while agrivoltaics count for only 30% of the land area involved. In practice, this mechanism favours installations that are compatible with the continuation of crop production.

The regional ceiling is 1.5% of SAU, rising to 2.5% at municipal level, with municipalities allowed to raise the threshold further.

Once the threshold is exceeded, new applications automatically become inadmissible, except for installations serving Renewable Energy Communities.

The region has also introduced more detailed rules for agrivoltaics, establishing that the continuity of agricultural activity, based on maintaining 80% of PLV, must be verified every three years through an agronomic report.

Penalties are provided for in cases where PLV falls by 20% or more without justification.


Autonomous Province of Trento


The Autonomous Province of Trento requires separate consideration. Through its August 2026 budget adjustment law, it updated rules originally introduced in 2022.

In addition to establishing a list of further suitable areas, the legislation introduces a highly detailed technical annex for agricultural areas of particular value.

Requirements include a minimum productivity threshold for solar panels, a 40% limit on the amount of a farm's SAU that can be occupied, and the exclusion of land used for organic crops or products carrying DOP, IGP, DOC or DOCG designations during the previous five years.

It also establishes a maximum slope of 15% and requires the integrity of dry-stone walls on terraced land to be maintained.

This approach reflects the specific characteristics of a mountainous territory where remaining SAU is already extremely limited once permanent grasslands and high-altitude pastures are excluded.


Tuscany


With the draft law approved by its regional government on 9 June 2026, Tuscany opted for an intermediate threshold of 1% of SAU at regional level, rising to 3% at municipal level unless otherwise agreed.

Municipal authorities can propose an increase in the proportion of SAU that can be used and submit specific maps identifying suitable agricultural areas.

Abandoned agricultural areas remain suitable for agrivoltaics even beyond SAU limits, provided they are not located in protected landscape areas and the plants do not exceed a specified capacity threshold.

However, to access the simplified procedures established by the legislation, agrivoltaic projects must involve an agricultural business and demonstrate the continuity of agricultural and pastoral activities, while meeting technical requirements that will be defined by the region.


Umbria


Umbria represents the most complex case.

Its first regional law on suitable areas, Law No. 7 of 16 October 2025, was adopted before the national corrective decree and introduced a relatively restrictive framework for renewable energy.

The new legislation prohibits conventional ground-mounted solar installations in rural areas, allowing only agrivoltaic plants with elevated modules in order to eliminate net land consumption and enable agricultural activities to continue underneath.

To prevent excessive concentration, the area occupied by solar and agrivoltaic installations larger than 1.5 hectares cannot exceed an overall ceiling of 3% of the rural agricultural area of each municipality, including existing and already authorised facilities.

As a general rule, installations cannot be built within 500 metres of protected cultural and landscape assets.

However, the law provides an exemption from both this distance requirement and the 3% ceiling for local agricultural businesses adopting advanced agrivoltaics, provided that energy generation is integrated with certified organic farming or the breeding of native Umbrian breeds and varieties.


Abruzzo


With Regional Law No. 9 of 7 May 2026, Abruzzo explicitly adopted a cautious approach.

The legislation follows the suitable agricultural areas already identified at national level, primarily adding restrictions rather than identifying additional sites.

The region introduced a list of exclusions that takes precedence over basic suitability criteria. These include agricultural areas currently receiving public funding, high-value permanent crops such as vineyards, orchards, truffle-growing areas and olive groves, the former bed of Lake Fucino and areas covered by the Marsican brown bear protection plan.

The only specific provisions extending suitability for solar PV concern agricultural areas located within 350 metres of industrial facilities and within 300 metres when adjacent to motorways or major roads.


Molise


Molise was among the first regions to act, with a draft law presented in February 2026.

It adopted the full range permitted under national legislation, between 0.8% and 3% of SAU, leaving municipalities responsible for defining their own percentage and excluding high-value crops.

The legislation introduces explicitly anti-speculation measures, including enhanced assessments for DOP, IGP and DOC products, checks on restrictions applying to land that has received public agricultural funding during the previous five years, and a ban on splitting projects across non-contiguous plots to circumvent capacity thresholds.


Apulia


With Draft Law No. 31 on suitable areas, approved by the regional government on 10 March 2026, Apulia identified the preservation of agricultural identity as a priority public interest, with particular protection for high-quality production.

More specifically, the draft law establishes specific provisions for agricultural areas. When authorisations are issued, preserving olive trees and high-quality agri-food production in the area must be considered an overriding public interest.

This includes DOP, IGP, DOC and DOCG products, organic production and P.A.T., or Traditional Agri-food Products.

Protection continues for five years even after a crop is replaced, in order to prevent "tactical removal" aimed at making an area suitable for energy installations.

Areas formally classified as industrial but still cultivated and without implementation plans also remain subject to regional landscape protection.


Sicily


Sicily, which worked on its own draft legislation during 2026, is following a similar approach to other Italian regions.

For suitable agricultural areas, the legislation introduces a limit of 0.8% of regional SAU, with the possibility of identifying and excluding high-value agricultural areas from the rules, including at the request of municipalities.

At the same time, it introduces specific rules giving priority to certain applications during the authorisation process, directly affecting advanced agrivoltaics.

Access to this priority is limited, however, to projects that maintain Gross Saleable Production at no less than 80% of the PLV recorded before the installation.



This article was realized in collaboration with Rinnovabili.