California produces nearly half of all U.S. vegetables and more than three-quarters of U.S. fruits and nuts, according to the CDFA. Today, moving that food from farms and packing facilities to distribution centers, ports, and markets requires a significant transportation network. One that runs predominantly on diesel.
Shifting this transportation network from diesel to electricity could have significant environmental and public-health benefits. A recent Southern California study found that battery-electric trucks produced approximately 75% fewer well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions than comparable diesel trucks, while eliminating tailpipe emissions such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter. These pollutants have been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, as well as premature death.
But electrifying heavy-duty transportation also creates substantial new electricity demand. As electric trucks such as the Tesla Semi enter commercial fleets, larger questions appear: Where will that electricity come from, and could innovative solar infrastructure along transportation lines become part of the solution?
The Energy Economics Can Be Compelling
Consider a simplified example of a heavy-duty truck operating predictable routes in California’s Central Valley.
If a truck travels approximately 300 miles per day for 250 days each year, it covers about 75,000 miles annually. Based on Tesla’s claim that the electric Class 8 truck requires approximately 2 kWh per mile, including allowances for charging losses and operating conditions, it would consume roughly 150 MWh of electricity per year. California’s average electricity prices during the first half of 2026 were approximately $0.20/kWh for industrial customers and $0.26/kWh for commercial customers, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That represents approximately $30,000–$39,000 per year in electricity costs.
“Under these assumptions, electrification could save roughly $45,000–$54,000 per truck per year in energy costs alone.”
A comparable diesel tractor averaging 6.3 mpg would consume approximately 11,900 gallons of diesel annually over the same 75,000 miles. At California’s August 2026 average on-highway diesel price of approximately $7.04 per gallon, annual fuel costs would approach $84,000. Under these assumptions, electrification could save roughly $45,000–$54,000 per truck per year in energy costs alone.
Actual economics will vary considerably with diesel and electricity prices, vehicle efficiency, charging losses, demand charges, payload, route conditions, and other factors. But the simplified calculation illustrates something important: for predictable agricultural trucking routes, the cost of electricity itself may not be the biggest obstacle. The greater challenge may be ensuring sufficient electricity is available along delivery routes and at the time trucks need to charge.
Truck Electrification Means More Energy Infrastructure
Heavy-duty charging requires infrastructure on an entirely different scale than passenger EV charging. A packing facility, distribution center, or trucking depot operating dozens of electric trucks could require several megawatts of charging capacity. In rural areas, delivering that power may require utility upgrades, transformers, switchgear and other costly infrastructure.
This makes predictable agricultural routes particularly interesting. A truck that travels between a packing facility and distribution center and returns to the same yard each day has something an unpredictable long-haul truck does not: a known place and time to charge.
That opens the door to pairing charging with onsite generation and energy storage. Rather than relying solely on the traditional model of grid-supplied charging, facilities could move toward a more integrated approach where renewable energy, such as solar, is paired with battery storage and managed charging.
This allows electricity generated onsite to be stored when production exceeds immediate demand and delivered later when trucks need to charge. In addition to increasing the use of onsite renewable energy, storage can help reduce peak demand on the grid, manage demand charges, and smooth large charging loads that might otherwise require substantial utility infrastructure upgrades. For fleet operators, the result could be greater control over when and how electricity is purchased, generated, stored, and ultimately delivered to vehicles.
Where Does Highway Solar Fit In?
While direct connections could be technically possible in certain locations, there are significant practical challenges. Electricity generated alongside a highway is not automatically available to a truck charger several miles away. Interconnection, ownership, utility requirements, DOT right-of-way restrictions, and the mismatch between variable solar generation and megawatt-scale truck charging all affect whether and how that electricity can be used.
Highway solar should therefore be viewed more broadly as a potential distributed generation resource within an increasingly electrified transportation system, rather than a direct connection between a particular solar array and a particular truck.
The Role of Dual-Use Solar
Conventional ground-mounted solar can contribute to this energy mix, but in agricultural regions such as the central valley, arable land is a valuable and finite resource. Dedicating additional acreage exclusively to energy production can create competition between renewable energy development and food production.
That is where dual-use energy systems with a small footprint, such as vertical PV, enter the conversation. Rather than replacing the existing use of the land, vertical solar can be integrated along agricultural plots as wind breaks, property boundaries as fencing, and other narrow or underutilized spaces. In the right applications, these systems can add renewable generation without taking working land out of production.
Conceptual illustration generated using AI.
Vertical bifacial PV also has a different daily production profile than conventional south-facing fixed-tilt solar. An east-west-facing vertical array tends to produce more strongly during the morning and afternoon, with lower production around solar noon relative to a traditional array. For transportation facilities, that profile could have advantages. Trucks returning to a depot later in the day may begin charging during afternoon or evening hours. West-facing surfaces of a vertical bifacial system can continue generating later in the day, potentially placing more solar production closer to those charging periods.
That does not eliminate the need for the grid or battery storage. Heavy-duty trucks require large amounts of energy, and charging schedules will rarely align perfectly with solar generation. But it demonstrates why transportation solar should be evaluated on more than annual kilowatt-hours alone.
The Future of Property Lines
California’s Central Valley offers a compelling setting for transportation electrification: high diesel costs, abundant solar resources, and predictable and highly frequented freight routes. As trucks increasingly shift from diesel to electricity, the infrastructure that supports those routes will need to evolve as well. That creates an opportunity to look beyond conventional solar sites and consider spaces already present in the agricultural and transportation landscape.
By finding productive uses for the spaces between farms, freight facilities, and freeways, the Central Valley could help demonstrate how transportation electrification and distributed solar generation can grow together.