Tag Archive for: aquavoltaics

AgriSolar News Roundup: Broccoli Agrisolar Study, Minnesota Agrisolar, Army Launches Floating Solar Farm 

New Study Shows Broccoli as Ideal Crop for AgriSolar Farms 

According to a new study by researchers of South Korea’s Chonnam National University, broccoli has shown to be an ideal crop to be grown under solar panels.  

“As per the study, the shade offered by the solar panels helps the broccoli get a deeper shade of green, which makes it look more appealing and it does so without a major loss of crop size or nutritional value. However, financial benefits for farmers producing solar energy are considerably more compared to the income generated by growing broccoli — nearly ten times more. Essentially, farmers are missing out on an opportunity by not having solar panels installed on the field.” – IT Technology 

Cattle Graze Under Solar Panels in Minnesota  

Cattle grazing under solar panels along U.S. Highway 59 in Morris, Minnesota, are under the direction of Bradley Heins, Ph.D., University of Minnesota. The cattle use the panels for shade and shelter, while other aspects of the operation are being studied further, such as water-runoff usage, pollinator habitat, and various potential crops to be grown.  

“Studying both the theoretical and the practical applications of agrivoltaics is James McCall, a researcher in mechanical engineering with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.  

‘To achieve the current administration’s decarbonization goals, we are going to need 10.3 million acres of land (by 2050) to achieve a high decarbonization and electrification scenario,’ said McCall. ‘We see a lot of pushback from local communities who don’t really want these projects on their land or in their community, a solution that has popped up is agrivoltaics.’ 

It’s possible that agrivoltaics could help develop a more pastoral environment for communities, and additional revenue streams for developers and farmers.” – Farm Ranch Guide 

U.S. Army Launches Floating Solar Farm  

Last month, a ribbon cutting took place for a U.S. Army floating solar farm, sited on Big Muddy Lake at Camp Mackall on Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  

“Fort Bragg is the largest military installation by population in the Army, with around 49,000 military personnel, 11,000 civilian employees, and 23,000 family members. The 1.1-megawatt (MW) floating solar farm includes 2 MW/2 megawatt-hour of battery energy storage. 

The floating solar farm is a collaboration between Fort Bragg, utility Duke Energy, and Framingham, Massachusetts-based renewable energy company Ameresco. The U.S. Army’s announcement explains: This utility energy service contract project will provide carbon-free onsite generation, supplement power to the local grid, and provide backup power for Camp Mackall during electricity outages. 

The U.S. Army has a goal of slashing its emissions 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050. It also wants to proactively consider the security implications of climate change in strategy, planning, acquisition, supply chain, and programming documents and processes.” – Electrek 

AgriSolar News Roundup: GivePower Aquavoltaics, Solar Decommissioning Resource Guide, Chinese Aquavoltaics Deployment, Solar Irrigation in Nebraska

GivePower Desalinates Water Overseas Using Aquavoltaics 

“Austin, Texas-based GivePower started by installing solar panels for schools, community centers or other projects in communities in need. But GivePower founder Hayes Bernard realized that people, especially women and girls, would not attend school if they had to walk 8 miles to get water every day. That’s when the idea to include water pumps and desalination came to mind.  

GivePower has seven operational desalination sites in countries like Haiti, Kenya, and Colombia. Four additional solar water farms are expected to become operational by the end of this year. GivePower has different sized desalination sites and setups. The largest one, the Solar Water Farm Max, produces up to 18,500 gallons of water daily — enough to support 35,000 people. It has a solar structure that acts like a roof over the water tanks and the twenty-foot equivalent unit shipping containers that house the desalination technology.” – American Shipper 

Resource Guide for Decommissioning Solar Energy Systems 

A new resource guide on decommissioning solar energy systems, written by AgriSolar Clearinghouse partner Heidi Kolbeck-Urlacher, offers resources for understanding solar project end-of-lifecycle management and recommendations for local governments to consider when drafting decommissioning ordinances. The report is now available through the Center for Rural Affairs here.  

“Solar projects are often located in rural areas and can provide numerous benefits to nearby communities, including lease payments to landowners, tax revenue to fund infrastructure and services, and the creation of both permanent and temporary jobs. County officials are typically responsible for enacting siting or zoning standards to help ensure solar development is supported by local residents. This can include planning for the eventual decommissioning of energy projects that have reached the end of their life cycles.” – Center for Rural Affairs 

The guide includes examples of decommissioning costs, extending performance periods of solar systems, recycling and disposal of solar panels, sample task lists associated with decommissioning solar systems, and recommendations for plans that define obligations of developers during the decommissioning process.  

Chinese Fishery Deploys 70MW Solar Plant 

“Farms where fish and algae thrive under solar panels might have secured their place in a future powered by renewable energy. Concord New Energy, a Chinese company that specializes in wind and solar power project development and operation, has installed a 70 MW solar plant atop a fishpond in an industrial park in Cangzhou, China’s Hebei region. The hybrid system integrates solar power generation with fishery in a unique way that not only saves land but also produces clean energy. This hybrid system is straightforward: a solar array is installed above the fish pond’s water surface, and the water area beneath the solar array is used for fish and shrimp farming. 

The fishery-solar hybrid system is a type of floating solar farm that has grown in popularity over the years as solar power has evolved to meet the needs of our increasingly climactic times. For example, the United States has just begun construction of the country’s biggest floating solar farm in New Jersey.” – Interesting Engineering 

Valley Irrigation Develops Solar Irrigation Site in Nebraska 

Valley Irrigation has announced the completion of its first North American agrisolar installation in Nebraska through its partnership with Farmers National Company. 

“The installation is located near Davenport, Nebraska, and will provide solar power to a Valley center pivot by offsetting energy consumption used to irrigate the field. Farmers National Company’s landowner client invested in Tier 1 solar panels, which are the highest-quality panels and are also used on major utility-sized installations. They are built to withstand the often-harsh conditions of Nebraska weather, including strong winds and hail.” – Valmont 

“Matt Gunderson is with Farmers National Company and says it helps producers become more sustainable and increase return on investment. “We create some on farm generation not only to power a farm, but how do we tie it back into the grid system to support the electricity needs that are out there? And, along the way with it, sell that electricity back for some excess needs and create some investment opportunities and income generation for producers.” – Brownfield 

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Physical Analysis of the Environmental Impacts of Fishery Complementary Photovoltaic Power Plant

This article discusses the mechanism of local micro-climate changes caused by fishery complementary photovoltaic (FPV) power plants to illustrate the impact of FPV power plants in a lake on the environment. It includes details about comprehensive albedo decreases relative to free water surface, water energy change and air vapor pressure deficits. The article also reveals that the FPV panels had a heating effect on the ambient environment, and that the range of this effect was related to water depth.

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Renewable Energy Application for Self-Sustainable Offshore Mariculture: The Conceptual Design

This report describes a design for an automated, offshore-fish farm, with solar, wind and hydro power as well as a durable, physical structure. The design discussed in the article includes three separate, self-maintaining energies: tidal, wind, and solar. Also included are descriptions of various offshore aquaculture cages intended for deep-water ocean designs.

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Mathematical Modeling Suggests High Potential for the Deployment of Floating Photovoltaic On Fish Ponds

This article concerns a dynamic model that simulates the main biochemical processes in a milkfish pond that is subject to floating photovoltaic (FPV) cover. The paper includes a model design description that includes details of variable components of the design, including: water temperature, phytoplankton, dissolved oxygen, fish and other variables. Results of the experiment are included, and include: calibration results, ecological effects, and trade-offs between fish and energy production.

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Floating Photovoltaic Systems: Assessing the Technical Potential of Photovoltaic Systems on Man-Made Water Bodies in the Continental United States

This article concerns floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems, also called floatovoltaics, or aquavoltaics, a rapidly growing emerging technology application in which solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are sited directly on water. Along with providing such benefits as reduced evaporation and algae growth, it can lower PV operating temperatures and potentially reduce the costs of solar energy generation. This article provides the first national-level (United States) estimate of FPV technical potential using a combination of filtered, large-scale datasets, site-specific PV generation models, and geospatial analytical tools. The authors quantify FPV co-benefits and siting considerations, such as land conservation, coincidence with high electricity prices, and evaporation rates. Our results demonstrate the potential of FPV to contribute significantly to the U.S. electric sector, even using conservative assumptions.

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Quantifying the Value of Foam-Based Flexible Floating Solar Photovoltaic Systems

This thesis investigates using a flexible crystalline silicon-based FPV module backed with foam, which is less expensive than conventional pontoon-based FPV. This novel form of FPV is tested experimentally for operating temperature and performance and is analyzed for water-savings using an evaporation calculation. The results show that the foam-backed FPV had a lower operating temperature than conventional pontoon-based FPV, and thus a 3.5% higher energy output per unit power. A case study of Lake Mead found that if 10% of the lake was covered with foam-backed FPV, there would be enough water conserved and electricity generated to service Las Vegas and Reno combined. At 50% coverage, the foam-backed FPV would provide over 127 TWh of clean solar electricity and 633.22 million m3 of water savings.

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Potential of Floating Photovoltaic Plant in a Tropical Reservoir in Brazil

This article reports findings of a simulation performed to assess the potential of floating photovoltaic power generation in the tropical Gavião reservoir, located in the Northeast of Brazil. The payback analysis indicates that the investment for construction of the system is fully recovered in 8 years, and that water losses due to evaporation can be reduced by approximately 2.6 x 106 m³/year, enough to supply roughly 50,000 persons.

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Optimization and Assessment of Floating and Floating-Tracking PV Systems Integrated in On- and Off-Grid Hybrid Energy Systems

This article evaluates several scenarios for optimal integration of hybrid renewable energy systems, including floating and floating-tracking PV systems into a representative shrimp farm in Thailand.

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Model to Estimate the Potential and Performance of Wavevoltaics

The article concerns a concept known as Wavevoltaics that consists of integrating the photovoltaic (PV) cells over the vacant open-sky surface of wave devices. This article is intended to deliver the conceptual view of modelling this device and a method to estimate the available power potential and to evaluate the performance of Wavevoltaic device.

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