The Witness Chronicles, 12/26/24
Solar + farming = Agrivoltaics
Agrivoltaics, The Future of Farming in a Warming World?
It might be the best of both worlds, farming and solar energy
[Note: in the face of recent political developments, it is easy for a political writer to only see disaster ahead. But there are things humans do that are always surprising and uplifting. And it’s not just artists doing that work.]
This has been on my radar recently, the combining of solar panel farms and actual farming under the panels; agriculture + voltaics= agrivoltaics. More and more land, once used for farming, is being taken over by solar panel farms, vast arrays of panels turning once green fields into techy racks of glass, ‘farming’ energy from the sun.
Agrivoltaics asks the question, why can’t we do both on the same land? The basic concept is simple: grow plants under and between the panels and use the panels to help the plants by protecting them from excessive light and heat, and use the shade from the panels to preserve ground waters.
There are challenges. Getting farm equipment in between the panel racks without damaging them may require custom designed equipment for tilling, planting, and harvesting. And agrivoltaic farmers are constantly experimenting with what plants thrive in those conditions and which don’t. It’s really an early stage developing technology being led by start-ups.
No matter how Trump yells about drill baby drilling, renewable tech like this simply makes far more sense than burning fossil fuels, something we know has changed the planet for the worse. Archaic technology really, but extremely profitable for the huge companies that have been drilling and mining it for decades.
The reality is that this sustainable energy project is well within reach of average small businesspeople, like farmers, and agrivoltaics is a particularly elegant example. Solar farms before this application provided an income stream for land owners, but it took that land out of use for growing food. Combining farming and solar multiples the income potential of the land while solving two problems, energy and food production, without the complex infrastructure required by fossil fuel use.
Obviously it’s not ideal in any region, though the more I learn about it the more innovation is arriving that helps adapt it to varying conditions, including plant selection. And once installed the solar component is relatively uncomplicated with virtually no moving parts, no emissions, and no power usage. When you compare it to something like oil fields or coal mining, it looks pristine and futuristic, because it is.
Combining tech like this with innovative farm techiques, like regenerative farming, which eliminate tilling and help rebuild exhausted soil, is a true win win. Another win of both of those technologies is that they work very well for smaller family farms, including urban market gardens with just a few panels that supply the power needed to run those mini farms.
Given the recent election results here in the US it’s obvious this tech won’t get any government support, likely just the opposite. The level of denial at the top of the government is now official. The good news is sustainable energy tech like agrivoltaics is simple enough and potentially profitable enough to ignore federal disregard for the future, especially from a government that claims to be a champion for business.
Those of us who imagine an active opposition to the Trump executive branch probably haven’t considered a grassroots technology like this as an effective weapon. It can show up how willful ignorance can hurt those who supported Donald Trump across farm country. He’ll ignore it.
But the farm lobby will not be able to afford to ignore an innovation that could bring in more profit per acre while generating clean energy. For those of us who have been sounding the alarm for years about climate change, and who assume our politicians are largely bought and paid for by oil and coal companies, it is assumed that any new innovation needs to develop under the radar.
Agrivoltaics and other ‘underground’ skunkwork developments in sustainable and clean energy, look like many other tech innovations, inventions that are initially seen as fringey but that offer enormous opportunities for growth and profits, in other words, disruption.
I was involved in tech marketing starting with the dot com breakout at the turn of the century so I’m familiar with the cycle of resistance and skepticism from established players. This looks a lot like that period, where tech nearly bankrupted itself until users began to see real benefits and it changed our entire economy.
Solar energy technology is evolving fast and coming down in price as volumes go up. And there are innovations in the pipeline that can make agrivoltaic farming even more efficient. These include more translucent panels, photovoltaic films, and other more flexible ways to harvest solar energy. It’s easy to imagine these innovations creating all kinds of opportunities to grow both energy and food, even in urban locations, at low cost.
Something as grassroots, literally, as agrivoltaics could very well have a similar path as other emerging technologies and it may be that farmers will lead the way. After all, most of those fossil fuel guys are pretty old and times change constantly. They always have.
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Yes, of course it makes sense. While we're at it, how about replacing the corn/ soybean fields (like in my state of Indiana) with crops we can actually eat for better health and eliminating most factory farms that produce meat we need much less of. Yes, to regenerative, organic and kinder methods, naturally.
Great idea that could really work. Thanks for sharing this.