Tag Archive for: Solar

Agrivoltaics Provide Mutual Benefits Across the Food-Energy-Water Nexus in Drylands

The vulnerabilities of food, energy and water systems to projected climatic change make building resilience in renewable energy and food production a fundamental challenge. Researchers investigate a novel approach to solve this problem by creating a hybrid of collocated agriculture and solar photovoltaic (PV) infrastructure. They took an integrative approach—monitoring microclimatic conditions, PV panel temperature, soil moisture and irrigation water use, plant ecophysiological function and plant biomass production within this ‘agrivoltaics’ ecosystem and in traditional PV installations and agricultural settings to quantify trade-offs. They found that shading by the PV panels provides multiple additive and synergistic benefits, including reduced plant drought stress, greater food production and reduced PV panel heat stress. This study represents the first experimental and empirical examination of the potential for an agrivoltaic system to positively impact each component of the food–energy–water nexus. The results from a dryland system indicate a reduction in daytime temperatures of the solar panels (energy) and microclimate under the panels (food), and a dampening in the diurnal fluctuations of each and day-to-day fluctuations in soil moisture in irrigated agriculture (water). Together, our findings suggest that a dryland agrivoltaic system may be a resilient energy and food system that has reduced vulnerabilities to future climate variability. However, there are probable barriers to wider adoption, which include challenges associated with some forms of mechanized farming and harvest and the additional costs associated with elevating PV arrays to allow for food production in the understorey. An integrated approach to the physical and social dimensions of our food and energy systems is key in supporting decision making regarding PV development and sustainable food and energy production in a changing world

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USDA Launches Rural Energy Pilot Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the launch of the Rural Energy Pilot Program, which will make $10 million available to rural communities to help develop renewable energy projects, according to a press release from the agency.  

Applicants may submit a letter of intent on or before April 19, 2022, and submit a completed application no later than July 18, 2022. 

According to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, “under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, USDA is providing grant assistance for people who live in particularly undeserved rural towns to help them cut their household energy costs and address climate change at the local level. As we continue to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, USDA is targeting resources and investments to help meet our nation’s energy needs and combat climate change.”  

Up to 20% of the funding may be used for technical assistance, energy efficiency and weatherization, capacity building and community energy planning. Also, priority points are given to projects that directly advance the key priorities of the presidential administration.  

A guide to submitting a letter of intent, as well as other details of the application process, provided by the USDA, can be found here. 

For more information, visit the USDA Rural Energy Pilot Program webpage. 

How One North Carolina Farm is Using Solar to Save

The Montgomery Sheep Farm in North Carolina might be taking mixed use to another level. Not only is it a working sheep farm, it also offers a bed and breakfast for two-legged guests, breeds dogs, and is now using solar to power the entire operation. A WFAE reporter recently visited the farm and reports the farm’s 20-megawatt solar array has not only provided it with additional income related to clean energy, but keeps workers employed and has reduced costs.

One important solar benefit  is a reduction in maintenance costs. The grass under the solar panels no longer needs to be cut, thanks to the sheep who graze under the solar panels on a rotating schedule. This not only reduces costs, but also allows the farm to raise more lambs per acre.

“We can have many more lambs per acre than if you put them on a normal pasture because of the solar panels,”  Joel Olsen told WFAE, owner of the Montgomery Sheep Farm.

Olsen says another big benefit is the  shade provided by the solar panels. The shade not only provides cool areas for the sheep during hot summer days, but it helps the grass grow thicker which means more food for  the sheep. This thick grass is much more suitable for the sheep than grass typically grown in an open field, according to Olsen.

The farm currently operates on 200 acres, raising sheep, chickens, and horses. Roughly 400 sheep are rotated on a weekly basis under the solar panels in 30 designated grazing areas.

“If you can provide farmers additional income related to clean energy, additional income related to grounds maintenance, you know, it allows our rural areas to remain beautiful and have the people living there to remain employed,” Olsen said.

To learn more about the Montgomery Sheep Farm in North Carolina, listen to WFAE’s story,  here.

Dual Use in the Pacific Northwest

by Diane Brandt

When I think about dual-use solar, I think about why this approach is a good idea for the Pacific Northwest. In a region that enjoys wild, open areas, it would be easy to assume that there’s “plenty of space” for building solar. Of course, as we look closer, we realize that there are many uses and users of these spaces and lands – between agriculture, conservation, and the plentiful ways to recreate in the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. Oregon and Washington have rich agricultural economies and histories that are entwined with their natural resources and beauty. As a native Oregonian myself, I recognize the connection I have and value I place on these pristine spaces and activities. Protecting those spaces and activities is important to many. 

Equally important to many is meeting our climate goals through reducing our use of carbon-emitting energy resources. The impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on our climate in the Pacific Northwest have been more stark – in one year we experienced ice storms that knocked out power around the region, endured an extreme heat dome that killed hundreds of people, continued to deal with extreme drought, and watched another destructive wildfire season that saw fires so intense they created their own weather systems and shut down interstate power lines. Moving away from carbon-intense energy sources to fill our electricity grid is a near-term solution within our grasp to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we create. 

So, back to why dual-use is relevant in the Pacific Northwest, it becomes a question of balance.  As Oregon and Washington move toward their clean energy goals, considering ways to balance the building of renewable energy projects – especially wind and solar – with these existing land uses and conservation values are important. The conversation around dual-use solar is still evolving in the Pacific Northwest. From a handful of existing projects in Oregon that co-locate pollinators or native vegetation with solar arrays, to ongoing research at Oregon State University on the benefits of dual use, dual-use solar is still in its early stages.

As this is a newer concept for those in the region, it is safe to assume that opinions on dual use are mixed – with some viewing it with optimism in offering another way to generate clean energy while keeping land in “production,” yet others are skeptical of the effectiveness considering potential costs or the practicality of pairing solar with intense agriculture practices.  Regardless, the region is looking at substantial renewableenergy projects in the near future to meet its clean energy goals, and exploring all potential solutions is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

Back in 2019, Renewable Northwest staff saw the relevance of dual-use solar as a way to continue the conversation around solar in the region, and worked with Spark Northwest through the Solar Plus initiative – a project funded by the Department of Energy through the Washington State Department of Commerce – to create a report on dual-use solar and the Pacific Northwest. The report aims to explore the types of dual-use solar, the advantages and disadvantages of each, examples, and policies and best practices for dual use. The report does recognize that dual-use applications may not be suited for all situations, but it equally explores the areas where it could be a win-win for farmers and landowners alike.

Through exploring specific examples, the report does highlight some of the benefits of dual-use solar that go beyond the climate-friendly gains. One of these benefits is the potential for “off-farm” income that allows farmers to continue their agricultural activities through circumstances in which they would previously operate at a loss. Not only does this help keep farmers farming and producing crops that sustain our region, but it also keeps agricultural land as agricultural land.

However, as this report points out, the policy pathways in Washington and Oregon for dual use are unclear if not restrictive, as is the case in Oregon which limits dual-use solar to 12 acres (as of January 1, 2022) on high-value farmland. While I’m not suggesting that dual-use solar will meet all of the region’s clean energy needs, it certainly offers one way to contribute toward those goals while also offering co-benefits through enhancing farmers’ incomes, rehabilitating native vegetation or supporting pollinators, providing shade for grazing herds, to name a few. 

So, why do I think dual-use solar is a good option for the Pacific Northwest? It not only offers gains toward a cleaner electricity grid, but it allows for flexibility in solar installation that can respond to the landowner or farmers’ needs. It offers us another tool to answer our climate concerns – and we’re going to need all the tools we can get!

The author is the Oregon Policy Manager at Renewable Northwest, a regional nonprofit advocating for the equitable and responsible decarbonization of the electricity grid with members from the renewable energy industry, and environmental and consumer groups. 

Agrisolar Projects in Arizona Utilize American Indian Techniques

AgriSolar Clearinghouse partner Greg Barron-Gafford, a professor at the University of Arizona, is looking to indigenous knowledge to find solutions to modern agricultural challenges through agrivoltaics. Barron-Gafford is part of a research team that is using an agrisolar approach to find solutions for agricultural challenges like water shortages and direct sunlight on crops in the desert.

Intense, direct sunlight in the desert and water shortages are both issues addressed by the researchers at the Biosphere 2 lab and the Tumamoc Resilience Gardens, in Arizona. Traditional techniques used by the American Indian tribes in the area for more than 5,000 years may offer solutions, and the measures are being tested in these facilities.

“Instead of relying on tree shade, we’re underneath an energy producer that’s not competing for water,” Barron-Gafford recently told the Washington Post.

Vegetation on site at the Biosphere 2 location will plant crops under solar panels as well as the traditional rock berms and rock piles used by area tribes.

“We’ve had 5,000 years of farmers trying out different strategies for dealing with heat, drought and water scarcity,” Gary Nabhan, an ethnobotanist and agrarian activist working at the Biosphere 2 location in Arizona, explained to the Washington Post.

Pairing solar with appropriate agricultural land may address the issues faced by desert farmers by shading crops from the intense Arizona sunlight, which can provide a cool area for plants to flourish under solar panels. Solar panels, unlike shade trees, don’t need water which means crops don’t have to compete for the scarce resource.

Not relying on irrigation canals to nourish thirsty crops such as leafy greens, nuts, and fruits means there is less of an impact on the immense amount of water that has typically been drawn from aquifers and, in Arizona’s case, the Colorado River.

Not only does an agrivoltaic approach to these challenges mean less impact on water supply, but it allows communities to build energy resilience.

Read more about the Biosphere 2 operation here, and the Tumamoc Resilience Gardens here.