Agrivoltaics

Agrivoltaics combines a solar project with farming or conservation use on the same land, so the site produces energy and keeps an agricultural or ecological role. The main models are solar grazing, crop production, pollinator-friendly planting and conservation. Grazing and crop production keep the land actively farmed, while the pollinator and conservation models give more passive benefits. In crop production agrivoltaics, vegetables and other crops are grown and farm work is done beneath or around the panels and other system components. This can retain soil moisture and reduce heat stress on crops. Research sites have grown shade-tolerant crops such as spinach, kale, broccoli and peas under panels. A Fraunhofer test field used 720 bifacial panels and reported a combined food and electricity yield 60 percent higher per square meter than separate fields. Design still has to cover the usual solar items, including zoning, interconnection feasibility, road access, slope and installation cost. It should also limit the effect on farmland quality and productivity. Crop production agrivoltaics is not yet deployed at scale in the United States, and most projects there are still in research. How feasible each model is must be checked site by site. Dual use can make solar more acceptable to local communities and give farmers a steady income. With proper decommissioning, the land can return to farming at the end of the project.