Finding a sustainable solution to our growing needs for food and renewable energy production under a variable climate remains a grand challenge. This project will examine the potential for co-locating food and renewable energy production on the same parcel of land ? a practice called ?agrivoltaics?. Growing food in the understory of a canopy of solar photovoltaic panels may lead to multiple benefits, including increasing the efficiency of land use, while reducing the need for impacting natural landscapes. However, both crops and solar panels are sensitive to changes in temperature and climate. This comparative research will link field measurements of plant and solar panel performance in a traditional setting and this novel co-location system to determine the costs and benefits of agrivoltaics. This research will be conducted across multiple dryland environments to broaden scientific learning about how well suited agrivoltaics is to different climates, irrigation laws, and social contexts. Local farmers, K-12 students from traditionally underrepresented groups, and university partners will lead the research and education efforts. The food produced in the study will be shared with the community, along with the scientific findings.
Food and energy security are national priorities. Both require land for production and are sensitive to changes in temperature and climate. Mounting demands for food and energy will only increase competition for land dedicated to their production. Co-locating food and energy production can have positive impacts across food, energy, and water systems by taking a more holistic systems approach and focusing the research across multiple dryland environments that vary in terms of temperature, timing of precipitation, and social context. Using a blend of field measurements and numerical modeling, this project will assess the impacts of agrivoltaics in terms of altering how water, carbon, and energy move through an ecosystem in terms of micrometeorological impacts, carbon cycling and storage, food and energy production, and mitigating sensitivities to environmental pressures. From a food system perspective, this research will determine 1) how being grown in the shade of solar panels can ease plant stress to high light and water demands, 2) how it might extend the growing season of crops, and 3) how much the shading of soils help slow evaporation, thus reducing the need for irrigation in drylands. From an energy perspective, the research will examine how much a solar panel can be cooled by the passive process of transpirational water loss from an understory of crops. Co-locating food and energy production may not only reduce land use conflicts, but also increase the production of more marginal lands.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
