Steve Cargil has farmed the flat, dry land around Uvalde, a small city in southwest Texas, since 1953. He assumed one of his three children would eventually take over the family farm, just as he had from his father. But that changed in 2018 when a violent hailstorm destroyed months of work on crops like cabbage and onions. His son, Ryan, told him, "Dad, I just don't know if I can do this. You do everything right, and we work so hard, and you come out one morning and it's all gone." That moment made Cargil realize his children might not want to continue farming full-time. Without a pension or guaranteed retirement income, he worried about the future of both the land and his own retirement. In 2001, Cargil signed a lease with OCI Energy, allowing the company to build a solar farm on 600 acres of his land. At the time, he didn’t expect a solar project to be on his property, but the lease has turned out to be a financial lifeline. It pays him $200,000 a year, helping him manage through droughts and rising costs for fuel and fertilizers. He can now focus his water resources on the farmland he still uses and sleep better at night. Cargil says this lease has changed his life, giving his family farm a financial cushion that might allow it to survive into a fifth generation. Texas, long known as the top oil producer in the United States, has recently become the largest producer of electricity from solar farms in the country. In March 2023, more electricity was generated by solar power in Texas than by coal for the first time, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Solar now provides about a third of Texas' electricity demand on hot afternoons, when power use peaks. This growth is driven by the state's fast-growing population and the ease of connecting solar farms to Texas' independent power grid. Solar has also become the cheapest way to generate electricity in the state, thanks to technological advancements and the fact that sunlight is free once a project is built. Large companies like Amazon and Apple are investing in long-term solar contracts to lock in low energy costs. Solar farms have become increasingly important in rural areas because they require large, flat spaces—something many farmers can provide. Leases with solar companies can provide families with stable income over decades, helping them retire or keep their farms afloat. However, not everyone is happy with the expansion of solar energy. In Franklin County, northeast Texas, some residents have fought against the growth, concerned about the environmental impact of clearing land and the potential risks of large battery storage units used with solar farms. These concerns reflect a broader unease in rural areas about the visual impact of solar farms and the environmental effects of land clearing. Despite these concerns, solar energy has found strong support in Texas, even among conservative voters. A recent poll found that 68% of Republican voters believe the country needs "all forms of electricity generation, including utility solar" to keep costs low. In Texas, where the state legislature is controlled by Republicans, there is growing acceptance of solar as a reliable and cost-effective energy source. For Steve Cargil, the solar farm on his land has provided a sense of security and hope for the future. While he has no immediate plans to retire, he feels more confident that his family farm might survive into a fifth generation. "You're better off being lucky than being smart," he says, echoing a phrase from his father. "And this was one of those cases where I was just lucky."