US agrivoltaics projects offer energy security
Putting solar panels in fields can help farmers, electricity providers, and the local community – as US agrivoltaics projects demonstrate.
Lightstar’s Vice President of Strategy, Lucy Bullock-Sieger speaks to the vital role agrivoltaics can play in the clean energy transition, in a new article published by James Tyrrell in technology and business magazine, TechHQ.
Tyrrell writes that dual-use solar, also known as agrivoltaics (solar projects that allow for grazing and crop production on the same plot of land), is a critical ingredient in achieving a secure clean energy future. The innovative technology can help States exceed solar energy goals without sacrificing productive farmland and sensitive wildlife habitat.
The myriad benefits dual-use solar realizes are also underscored: “putting solar panels in fields can help farmers, electricity providers, and the local community – as US agrivoltaics projects demonstrate” and “more than just dual use, or adjacent infrastructure, agrivoltaics can be defined as a fully integrated crop / solar solution that brings the best of both to an active parcel of land.”
Implementation of agrivoltaics and community solar in municipalities across the US and beyond is a powerful way to take local climate action. As highlighted by Tyrrell, via the University of Illinois’ Sustainably Colocating Agricultural and Photovoltaic Electricity Systems project, “early results suggest that agrivoltaic systems can reduce the amount of water used for irrigation and can help direct rainfall to where it’s most needed.”
On how agrivoltaics is protecting vanishing farmland, Tyrrell writes: “millions of acres of productive farmland have already been lost over the years, due to various developments (of all kinds), and communities can be sensitive to projects for this reason. But, as agrivoltaics success stories – not just in the US, but in Europe and other areas too – highlight, solar and agriculture have the capacity to co-exist. It means that along with energy security, [solar] projects can deliver benefits to the planet without putting pressure on food sources.”
These trailblazing arrays are “typically built on 15-20 acre parcels of land and generate enough electricity to power around 1000 homes for a year.” Tyrrell notes: “blueberries, strawberries, and tomatoes are just a few examples of crops that have grown happily alongside [solar] panels.”
Connect with Lightstar to find out how you can tour one of our up-and-running agrivoltaic projects, as Bullock-Sieger shared in the TechHQ article, or contact our team to discuss how you can bring community solar to your land and help green the grid, lower local energy costs, earn long-term reliable income and create tax revenue for your local municipality.