University of Arizona scientists are working with millions of dollars in federal grants to optimize agrivoltaics — the practice planting crops on solar farms.
David Wichner University of Arizona scientists are proving that electricity isn’t the only thing you can harvest down on the solar farm.
While solar operators may benefit from added agricultural revenue and the cooling effect of co-located crops — since photovoltaic panels are more efficient at lower temperatures — many are leery of the impact on solar production and equipment damage, he said. For farmers, the scientists are researching crops that do well in partial shade and warmer conditions and shorter native grasses that do well in shade for livestock grazing, he noted.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell, UA senior vice president for research and innovation, noted that the UA is among the top schools in the nation and world for water resources research, while Arizona is one of the biggest agricultural water users in the U.S. Finally getting a ‘yes’Barron-Gafford has been studying agrivoltaics — also known as agrisolar, solar sharing or dual-use solar — for years with a solar garden installed at the UA’s Biosphere 2 near Oracle in 2017.
Working under a National Science Foundation grant, Barron-Gafford and his student team grew tomatoes, peppers, chard, kale, and herbs in the shade of a small solar array at Biosphere 2 as well as in traditional open plantings, measuring microclimatic conditions, PV panel temperature, soil moisture and irrigation water use and plant function and growth.
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