Okovate Sustainable Energy

What Okovate Sustainable Energy does

Okovate Sustainable Energy is a Washington, D.C.-based agrivoltaic project developer founded in 2018 by Miles Braxton and Savannah Whitfield. The company enables dual-use of farmland for simultaneous solar power generation and continued agricultural production, serving two primary customer segments: farmers and landowners seeking diversified income through 30-year lease agreements with fixed payments and 5-year extension options, and solar developers seeking agrivoltaic consulting services such as site assessment, feasibility reporting, farmer engagement, and permitting assistance.

The company's core offerings are organized into Agrivoltaics Development and Agrivoltaics Consulting, supported by the Fundusol Modeling Platform acquired from Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon in December 2025. Fundusol provides the underlying proprietary technology stack, including the SIMulated PLant Ecosystem (SIMPLE) crop biomass model covering 60+ crop types, a custom in-house genetic algorithm for optimizing panel spacing, height, and tilt based on crop light saturation needs, precision phenology modeling, and 3D digital-twin visualization tools. The company is backed by The Schmidt Family Foundation as primary disclosed investor and operates from headquarters at 80 M Street SE and a secondary office at Eaton House in Washington, D.C.

Revenue is generated through two streams: 30-year recurring lease payments from farmers hosting agrivoltaic systems (structured in Option, Construction, and Operations phases) and professional-services fees from solar developers purchasing consulting engagements. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, though farmers receive $20,000/year plus $250/acre during construction and a per-acre annual rate thereafter. Okovate reports quantifiable outcomes including 20% reduction in development time from origination to Notice to Proceed, 31% reduction in maintenance costs through farmer-managed sites, and 18% potential insurance cost reductions. Current operating projects total 9.11 MW across approximately 27 acres in Maryland under a co-development partnership with Chaberton Energy.

Name

Okovate Sustainable Energy

Legal name

Okovate Sustainable Energy, Inc.

Website

https://okovate.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agrivoltaic Project Development Services

NAICS

Solar Electric Power Generation (221114), Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm Technology Enablement & Data Integration Advisory (FMIS/ERP, IoT, Decision Support) (AFACAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Permitting, Siting & Environmental Impact (EIA/NEPA) Advisory (EUAMANAB), Renewable Energy Asset Management (Solar/Wind/Hydro/Geothermal) (EUAEAMAB), Siting, Resource Assessment & Environmental Tech R&D (Remote Sensing, Wake Modeling, Wildlife Mitigation) (EUAMAOAJ)

Keywords

• Agrivoltaic project development
• Dual-use solar development
• Solar developer consulting
• Agrivoltaic site assessment
• Farmer lease energy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Agrivoltaic Lease Payments: Okovate provides farmers with 30-year lease agreements with two 5-year extension options. Farmers receive fixed, reliable payments as a secondary revenue stream on top of their existing farm operations. The lease model operates in three phases: Option Period (planning with quarterly payments), Construction Period (increased quarterly payments), and Operations Period (annual lease payments based on per-acre rate with annual increases).
2. Agrivoltaic Consulting Services: Consulting services sold to solar developers including site assessment, agrivoltaics reports, farmer engagement, and permitting assistance. These are professional services that help developers integrate agrivoltaics into their solar projects.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Okovate Sustainable Energy is an agrivoltaic project developer that designs, finances, and builds dual-use solar energy systems on working farmland, allowing farmers to continue agricultural operations (row crops, livestock, poultry, pollinators) while receiving fixed 30-year lease payments. The company also sells agrivoltaic consulting services to utility-scale solar developers, including site assessment, feasibility reports, farmer and community engagement, and permitting support, all backed by the proprietary Fundusol modeling platform acquired from Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon.

Product overview

Okovate Sustainable Energy operates as an agrivoltaic project developer offering a unified platform combining development and consulting services. The core offerings include Agrivoltaics Development (for farmers) and Agrivoltaics Consulting (for developers), supported by the acquired Fundusol Modeling Platform. Fundusol provides the underlying technology stack with Genomic Optimization, Precision Phenology Insights, and Advanced Data Visualization modules. The consulting services layer includes Site Assessment, Full Agrivoltaics Planning Report, Farmer & Community Engagement, and Permitting Assistance. The Fundusol platform uses the SIMulated PLant Ecosystem (SIMPLE) crop biomass model to enable data-driven agrivoltaic project design.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agrivoltaics Development Dual-use energy and farming development service for farmers and landowners that designs, finances, and builds solar arrays on agricultural land while preserving continued farming operations. Includes the Agrilease program providing 30-year fixed per-acre lease payments with two 5-year extensions, plus $20,000/year and $250/acre during construction. Supports row crops, livestock grazing, poultry, and pollinator habitats.
• Agrivoltaics Consulting Professional advisory service for utility-scale and commercial solar developers on integrating agrivoltaics into their projects. Engagements cover site assessment, full agrivoltaics planning reports, farmer and community engagement, and permitting assistance, with reported outcomes of 20% faster origination-to-NTP timelines and 31% lower maintenance costs via farmer-managed sites.
• Fundusol Modeling Platform Proprietary modeling platform developed at Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon that simulates interactions between solar array architecture and crop phenology. Uses the SIMulated PLant Ecosystem (SIMPLE) crop biomass model to project outcomes for over 60 crop types and powers Genomic Optimization, Precision Phenology Insights, and 3D digital twin visualization within Okovate's agrivoltaic development and consulting services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20% reduction in development time from Origination to NTP (Notice to Proceed)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Chaberton EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2026Chaberton Energy partnered with Okovate Sustainable Energy to develop two Maryland agrivoltaics projects (Sugarloaf 5.23 MW and Ramiere 3.88 MW). Okovate assists in selecting and onboarding farmers for the projects, providing expertise in farmer engagement and agrivoltaic implementation. The partnership combines Chaberton's solar development capabilities with Okovate's agricultural expertise to co-locate solar facilities with farming activity on up to 27 acres in Montgomery County, Maryland.
• Stanford UniversitycoreTechnology or Integration · 30 December 2025Fundusol, the modeling platform acquired by Okovate, originated from Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon. The platform was developed with support from The Schmidt Family Foundation and represents technology from these prestigious research institutions for simulating solar-crop interactions.
• Carnegie Mellon UniversitycoreTechnology or Integration · 30 December 2025Fundusol, the modeling platform acquired by Okovate, originated from Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon. The platform was developed with support from The Schmidt Family Foundation and represents technology from these prestigious research institutions for simulating solar-crop interactions.
• Fundusol LLCcoreTechnology or Integration · 17 July 2024Initially partnered with Fundusol LLC to promote adoption of crop-integrated agrivoltaics across the United States. The collaboration combined Okovate's project development expertise with Fundusol's advanced software for designing sustainable solar-farming systems. Following this partnership, Okovate acquired Fundusol's assets in December 2025.
• ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy)minorOthers · 27 February 2024Okovate became a member of ACORE's Fourth Cohort of Accelerate Member Companies, gaining access to industry resources, networking, and visibility within the renewable energy community.
• Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center (CALC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMiles Braxton, Okovate's CEO, serves on the CALC board, indicating a strategic connection to this agrivoltaics learning and research organization based in Colorado.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Borrego Solar: U.S. solar developer focused on community, commercial, and utility-scale projects with growing interest in dual-use and agricultural co-location. Comparable to Okovate at the developer-economics level, though broader in scope.
• Aurora Solar: Solar design and sales software platform used by residential and commercial installers for site assessment and proposal generation. Comparable to Okovate as a tech-enabled adjacent player addressing the same solar developer workflow (site assessment, project feasibility) via software rather than development services.

Direct peers

• Jack's Solar Garden: Agrivoltaic pilot farm in Colorado cultivating crops under solar arrays. Operates as a working demonstration of dual-use solar and agriculture in the U.S., making it the most analogous active project to Okovate's farmer-first development model.
• BlueWave Solar: U.S. community- and dual-use solar developer with a strong farmer-engagement and policy-advisory orientation historically. Comparable to Okovate on customer base (farmers/landowners) and the GTM motion of pairing solar with agricultural co-location.

Broad incumbents

• LightSource bp: One of the largest global utility-scale solar developers with active agrivoltaic pilots in Europe and North America. A comparable peer because it operates at the same developer–farmer interface for dual-use projects, albeit with vastly larger scale and capital.
• National Grid Renewables: U.S. renewable energy developer with utility-scale solar, wind, and storage projects including pilots in pollinator and dual-use configurations. Comparable to Okovate as a competing developer for the same agricultural land parcels and dual-use RFP opportunities.
• BayWa r.e. Global renewable energy developer with one of the most advanced commercial agrivoltaic programs in Europe. Comparable as a developer combining farmer lease structures with proprietary crop-yield modeling for utility-scale solar.
• Cypress Creek Renewables: U.S. utility-scale solar developer with deep project development expertise. Comparable to Okovate as a direct competitor for agricultural land siting and as a potential consulting customer/partner via its community acceptance challenges.
• NextEra Energy Resources: Largest U.S. renewable energy operator with growing agrivoltaic and pollinator pilot portfolio. Comparable to Okovate as the dominant incumbent that, if it scales its dual-use practice, would be the primary structural competitor.
• EDF Renewables: Major U.S. utility-scale solar and storage developer with pollinator and co-location pilots. Comparable as a broad incumbent that increasingly competes for the same dual-use agricultural land and is investing in agrivoltaic R&D.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/okovate
• Instagraminstagram.com/okovate.se

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Okovate Sustainable Energy