Kingston, Mass. – October 12, 2026 -- Distributed Energy Infrastructure (DEI) has completed the first-ever agrivoltaic cranberry harvests at two Massachusetts wetland solar sites with a combined 5.4 MW of solar capacity and 16.2 MWh of installed storage energy.
The Black Cat Agrivoltaics Project in Plymouth and the Ring Road Agrivoltaics Project in Kingston are owned by developer Greenbacker Renewables and were installed by DEI, an EPC provider for utility-scale solar and storage. DEI describes the harvests as a milestone for extending agrivoltaics into wetland environments.
Two projects pair 5.4 MW of solar with battery storage
The Black Cat project totals 1 MW and includes an energy storage system rated at 500 kVA with 2,700 kWh of installed energy capacity. The Ring Road project totals 4.4 MW and is paired with a 13.5 MWh battery energy storage system.
Both sites supply power through a community solar model. According to the source, the projects strengthen local grid resilience, expand the local tax base through new revenue and support the goals of Massachusetts' SMART program and Clean Peak Standard.
Solar leases revive bogs that sat fallow for years
Before the installations, both cranberry bogs had become financially unviable and lay fallow for many years. Land leasing for the solar projects now gives the landowner additional income, which makes cultivation economically viable again.
Cranberry farmer Iain Ward, who manages the bogs, is paid for agricultural management on top of his income from selling the crop. He worked closely with DEI through design and construction to keep the sensitive wetland intact. He said the harvests show that if solar can be built over such challenging wetland, it can be built almost anywhere.
DEI cites reliable, cost-effective build over active perennial crops
Prateek Tare, Executive Vice President and Co-founder of DEI, said Ward's input at every stage was essential to delivering a reliable, cost-effective build while protecting the productivity of the heritage bogs.
Both projects were finalists for the North American Agrivoltaics Awards. Ward and DEI are also founding members of the Solar & Farming Association (SAFA), a coalition representing developers, agricultural producers, livestock producers and affiliated organizations in the agrivoltaics industry.