Humans need energy almost as much as they need food. A team from Southern Illinois University Carbondale is helping explore ways to harvest both from the same plots of ground.
SIU’s Advanced Energy Institute recently led a delegation, including technical experts, labor leaders, elected state officials and local farmers, to Europe, where they toured agrivoltaic facilities. Agrivoltaic systems refer to the practice of locating solar energy collection stations and farming operations on the same land, essentially, growing crops beneath solar panels.
The practice comes with benefits as well as challenges. On the plus side, solar panels protect the crops from hazards such as hail and frost, and reduce the plants’ water requirements by providing shade when it is needed during the hottest part of the day, all while producing electricity. The panels also reduce the need for pesticides and other chemicals by reducing stress on the plants grown underneath.
Challenges include carefully planning such operations to work in harmony with crop systems, as well as finding ways to work with the agriculture community to show the potential benefits. The trip by the delegation, which included Southern Illinois orchardists and winemakers, went a long way toward educating all involved, said Ken Anderson, director of the Advanced Energy Institute at SIU.
“The idea of agrivoltaics has been around for a while now, but it has really taken off in the last few years, especially in Europe,” Anderson said. “By using the land for two purposes, you can realize more value than you can using it for a single purpose, even if you have to make modest compromises for both the farming and the energy production. That sounds simple enough, but translating that to practice requires balancing a lot of competing factors, and that work is really just gathering steam.”
Southern Illinois a good fit
European developers have been leading the agrivoltaic effort, Anderson said, and are about 10 years ahead of the United States. During its two-week visit in October, the delegation toured 15 sites, including small research facilities and commercial farms producing apples, pears, apricots, grapes and other crops beneath solar panels.
Agrivoltaic systems especially make sense for Southern Illinois for several reasons, Anderson said, one of which is the region’s large number of orchards and vineyards.
Source: wsiu.org
Photo Credit: istock-shansekala
Categories: Illinois, Crops, Energy