Farming Under Solar Panels

Land can be reverted back to agricultural uses at the end of the operational life for solar installations.

Farming under solar panels.

Traditionally when solar developers turn to farmland for their projects the property is leased or sold to the developer the topsoil is stripped and the panels are mounted on concrete footings. Since 2010 the cost of installing solar on homes and businesses has plummeted by more than 50 percent pdf. Solar s biggest boom and the trend will increase as renewable energy especially solar power is more thoroughly incorporated into america s 900 million acre pdf agricultural economy. Greg barron gafford associate professor at the university of arizona shows that combining these two systems solar panel photovoltaic infrastructure and agriculture can create a mutually.

Solar on the farm last year marked u s. The institute elevated 720 solar panels high enough for farm machinery to harvest plants underneath and nearby according to a 2017 press release. Can my land be converted back to agricultural land after the life of the solar system. But the new study published in the journal advanced energy materials earlier this month explores whether tinted solar panels could work on farms as well a process part of a larger area of research dubbed agrivoltaics.

Farming crops under solar panels a process called agrivoltaics can boost food production water savings and the efficiency of electricity production researchers report. Solar shading decreased production 5 3 percent to 19 percent. While the shift boosts renewable energy generation it weakens the local food supply. The researchers planted wheat potatoes celeriac.

Having vegetation underneath and around solar panels can reduce the levels of dust and soiling on panels. Farm that would involve at least 10 acres of cropland under solar. The researchers planted wheat potatoes celeriac and clover grass in the open and under the panels and compared the yields. The authors assessed how growing basil and spinach under the panels works and the results are encouraging.