Joe Czajkowski Named 2026 Solar Farmer of the Year
Sunwealth is proud to celebrate Joe Czajkowski, owner and farmer at Czajkowski Farm in Hadley, Massachusetts, as the 2026 North American Agrivoltaics Awards Solar Farmer of the Year.
Planting broccoli beneath the solar panels at Czajkowski Farm.
The Solar Farmer of the Year award recognizes farmers who are demonstrating how agriculture and solar energy can successfully share the same productive land. Sunwealth is proud to be part of that work. In 2024, Sunwealth partnered with Massachusetts-based solar developer Hyperion Systems on the 445 kW solar project at Czajkowski Farm, which became Sunwealth’s first agrivoltaic solar project.
Today, the project helps reduce Czajkowski Farm’s electricity costs, generating savings that can support the farm’s agricultural operations. It also provides discounted clean energy to low-income community members in western Massachusetts. Over its lifetime, the project is expected to generate approximately $1.2 million in energy savings and avoid nearly 12,000 tons of carbon emissions.
Joe’s early embrace of agrivoltaics has also helped make Czajkowski Farm an example for other agricultural communities exploring how solar can complement existing land uses. The project demonstrates that communities do not have to choose between productive farmland and renewable energy. Farming continues alongside the solar array, including broccoli grown for use on the UMass Amherst campus.
“There seems to be a lot of interest in agrivoltaics among farmers in the Pioneer Valley - agrivoltaics makes farms more viable and not as dependent on the markets any given year. We had one customer who paid a premium for our broccoli because it was socially grown.”
Congratulations to Joe on this well-deserved recognition, and to our partners at Hyperion Systems for helping bring the Czajkowski Farm project to life. We’re excited to see this project continue demonstrating how solar, agriculture, and community impact can grow together.
Read more about the The Solar Farmer of the Year award here.