AgroWatts
Leasing your land for a solar farm
For landowners and ejidatarios
Were you offered a lease for a solar farm on your land?
More and more developers are looking for farmland to lease for solar parks. It can be good income, but the contract lasts decades. Before signing, review this calmly and with a lawyer.
⚖ This is general information, not legal advice. Every case (private property, ejido, community, indigenous territory, inheritance, mortgages) needs review by an agrarian lawyer before signing.
Lease review checklist
1.Who signs?
Legal name, RFC, articles of incorporation and the signatory's power of attorney. Can they assign the contract to another company without telling you?
2.Term and phases
Separate option/development, construction, operation and decommissioning. Check automatic renewals. On ejido land the Agrarian Law (art. 45) caps third-party contracts at 30 years, renewable.
3.Rent per phase
How much is paid during the option, construction and operation? Per hectare or a fixed amount? Is it indexed to inflation (INPC)? On what dates and how?
4.Exact area
A polygon with coordinates, access roads, power lines and easements outside the leased area. Everything they occupy should be paid for.
5.Option and exclusivity
How many years can they “hold” your land without building? What do they pay meanwhile? Can you keep farming?
6.Termination
Who can terminate and with what penalty? Avoid clauses where only the company can walk away at no cost.
7.Decommissioning and restoration
Who removes panels, concrete and cables, by when, and backed by what guarantee (bond). The soil should be returned fit for farming.
8.Water, wells and fences
Does the contract affect your wells or water concessions? Who is liable for damage to crops, fences, canals or roads?
9.Taxes and insurance
Who pays property tax, how rent is invoiced and what insurance the company carries. Check with your accountant.
10.A copy, in Spanish
The full contract in Spanish, with annexes and a signed copy for every owner or ejidatario.
Published rent references
MXN 20,000–25,000/ha/yr
“National average” during operation, per Hidalgo's State Energy Agency, as cited in the press.
Sources: El Universal Hidalgo
MXN 10,000/ha/yr
What ejidatarios in Epazoyucan and Singuilucan, Hidalgo, reported receiving.
Sources: El Universal Hidalgo
MXN 4/m²/yr (≈ 40,000/ha)
Payment reported by federal deputies for wind and solar parks in Puebla.
Sources: Periódico Central
These are press-reported figures, not official tables. Actual rent depends on location, distance to transmission lines, area and negotiation. We do not publish figures without a source.
Red flags
- Pressure to sign fast or “this week”.
- Blank pages, “pending” annexes, or no copy for you.
- Multi-year options with a token payment.
- Automatic renewal without your signature.
- Confidentiality that stops you consulting a lawyer or your family.
- Requiring the land “cleared” — felling agave, orchards or crops — before a firm contract.
- Individual signatures over common land without an assembly resolution.
- No decommissioning or soil-restoration guarantee.
Lease and keep farming: agrivoltaics
A conventional solar park usually takes the crop off the land. With an agrivoltaic design — elevated structures or wider row spacing, sheep grazing under the panels — farming can continue. Ask the developer whether they accept a design that keeps your farming going and how usable land is shared. AgroWatts can assess whether your plot and crop are compatible.
Ejidos and land tenure
- Ejido parcel: the Agrarian Law (art. 79) lets the ejidatario grant use of their parcel to third parties, including by lease.
- Common land: contracts are made by the ejido as a whole (art. 45), and certain matters are reserved to the assembly (art. 23).
- Maximum 30 years, renewable, for third-party contracts over ejido land (art. 45).
- The Procuraduría Agraria advises agrarian rights holders; the National Agrarian Registry (RAN) records ejido rights.
Sources: Ley Agraria (Cámara de Diputados) ↗ · Procuraduría Agraria ↗ · Registro Agrario Nacional ↗
⚖ This is general information, not legal advice. Every case (private property, ejido, community, indigenous territory, inheritance, mortgages) needs review by an agrarian lawyer before signing.