Entries by A. J. Puckett

,

Planning and Zoning for Solar Energy Systems

The purpose of this guide is to help Michigan communities meet the challenge of becoming solar- ready by addressing SES within their planning policies and zoning regulations. This document illustrates how various scales and configurations of photovoltaic SES fit into landscape patterns ranging between rural, suburban, and urban. This guide will aid in community development and guidance related to public policy decisions related to solar energy development, which often includes agrivoltaic operations and development as well.

,

Stakeholder Interactions Around Solarsiting on Agricultural Lands: Toward Socio-Agrivoltaic Interventions

This study includes discussion on key benefits, tensions, and paradigms influencing farmers and farming communities’ decisions to host utility-scale solar generation. The first goal of this study is to develop a conceptual map of stakeholder interaction(s) around utility-scale solar deployment on agricultural lands. The second goal includes the critique of agrivoltaic solutions that fail to consider stakeholder priorities as technological fixes.

Scientists and engineers have recommended agrivoltaics to solve conflicts between land use for energy versus agriculture. The study discusses and focuses on stakeholder perceptions and paradigms about using agricultural land, particularly prime farmland. The study covers the question of how does the existing context of energy and agricultural systems affect solar siting, and how are stakeholders interacting to coproduce decisions?

The results of this study provide a conceptual map of stakeholder interaction on solar development on agricultural lands and argues that agrivoltaics are currently treated as a “technological fix.”

Disney World Set to Use 40 Percent Solar Energy in 2023 

Walt Disney World recently announced its plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2030 by installing two 75-megawatt solar arrays, according to a news release by One Green Planet. These arrays will result in roughly 40% of Disney World’s electricity being powered by solar energy.   “Our commitment to the environment goes beyond imagining a […]

Stanford University Develops New Solar Cells 

Stanford University engineers have announced that they have developed a new type of solar cell capable of generating electricity not just during the day but also at night, according to a recent report by National Public Radio.   The new technology includes a device that incorporates a thermoelectric generator, pulling electricity from “the small difference […]

AgriSolar News Roundup: Biosphere 2 Visit, Rooftop Agrivoltaics, New French Solar Canopy 

AgriSolar Clearinghouse Visits Biosphere 2  “The AgriSolar Clearinghouse is taking a national tour of operational agrivoltaic operations, sharing knowledge, and bringing attention to a practice with numerous (and perhaps unexpected) benefits. The first stop on the tour is the agrivoltaic array at Biosphere 2, a research center run by the University of Arizona. Biosphere 2 […]

Communities in Indiana can now Become Renewable-Ready 

Indiana communities can now voluntarily adopt regulations qualifying them as solar and wind-ready communities, according to a recent news story by PV Magazine. This change is expected to create thousands of jobs in the clean energy industry, cut development times, and lower overall costs.  Sean Brady, Clean Grid Alliance’s State Policy Manager, told PV Magazine, […]

, ,

Managing Grazing to Restore Soil Health, Ecosystem Function, and Ecosystem Services

This resource discusses components of managed grazing such as: historical herbivore effects on grasslands, limitations of past research, managing grazing to restore ecological function and management tactics used to achieve sustainable finance goals. All of these considerations relate to aspects of developing AgriSolar operations that include grazing and a need for grazing strategies. Scientists partnering with farmers and ranchers around the world who have improved their land resource base and excel financially have documented how such land managers produce sound environmental, social, and economic outcomes. Many of these producers have used Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing management as a highly effective approach for managing their grazing lands sustainably.

AgriSolar News Roundup: Dubois Solar, Oorja Funding, Desert Crops, Dutch Solar Trial 

Massachusetts Farmer Identifies Agrivoltaic Benefits  Northfield, Massachusetts, farmer Jesse Robertson-Dubois is identifying benefits of integrating agrivoltaics into farm operations, according to a news release by the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Dubois elaborates on the misconceptions that solar integration into farmland destroys the land and that developer’s “prey” on landowners. Dubois says that not only does this […]

DOE Announces Solar Funding Opportunity

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a $10 million funding opportunity for “innovative solutions and strategies that maximize benefits and minimize impacts to wildlife and ecosystems from solar energy infrastructure, ” according to a news release by the Solar Energy Technologies Office. The Deploying Solar with Wildlife and Ecosystem Benefits (SolWEB) will fund projects […]