Why Agrivoltaics is important is the topic of many papers and reports over the last two years. Agricultural community opposition concerns include the potential loss of farming businesses and destruction of farmland and soils says author Christopher Karr in his August 21, 2021 article.
www.mcneeslanduse.com
As early as 2019, substantive papers were populating the research journals, and for me, this paper was significant in reviewing shade-tolerant crops. St Louis University Professor M Brickhouse in his 2019 paper summarized, "Recent demonstrations have shown that the combination of photovoltaics and agriculture on shared land increases overall land productivity. It has also been observed than when used with shade-tolerant crops, PV installations reduce transpiration and improve water retention. However, research is needed to determine the geographical sites in which agrivoltaics can have the greatest impact on bringing marginal lands into agricultural production, and new areas opened to the production of high value crops through its combination of shading and improved water retention."
Scott Sklar
Adjunct Professor & Sustainable Energy Director
Environment & Energy Management Institute (EEMI)
and Director, GWU Solar Institute
The George Washington University (GWU)
https://eemi.seas.gwu.edu/ sklar@gwu.edu
Personal email: solarsklar@aol.com Ph 703-522-3049
Agrivolatics: Two for One - Harvesting Crops and Solar
Problem: A clean, renewable energy (CRE) developer is proposing to construct a solar energy project on land within a rural agricultural area of our
www.mcneeslanduse.com
As early as 2019, substantive papers were populating the research journals, and for me, this paper was significant in reviewing shade-tolerant crops. St Louis University Professor M Brickhouse in his 2019 paper summarized, "Recent demonstrations have shown that the combination of photovoltaics and agriculture on shared land increases overall land productivity. It has also been observed than when used with shade-tolerant crops, PV installations reduce transpiration and improve water retention. However, research is needed to determine the geographical sites in which agrivoltaics can have the greatest impact on bringing marginal lands into agricultural production, and new areas opened to the production of high value crops through its combination of shading and improved water retention."
Scott Sklar
Adjunct Professor & Sustainable Energy Director
Environment & Energy Management Institute (EEMI)
and Director, GWU Solar Institute
The George Washington University (GWU)
https://eemi.seas.gwu.edu/ sklar@gwu.edu
Personal email: solarsklar@aol.com Ph 703-522-3049
