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Emilie Ritter
Director of Communications & Development
emilier@ncat.org

The Illinois Agrivoltaics Regulatory and Policy Guide Analyzes State and Local Laws

Sheep grazing under solar panels. By Jessica Guarino and Tyler Swanson   The U.S. agrivoltaics industry continues to grow as the desire to pair solar energy production land uses with pollinator habitats, livestock grazing, and…

Case Study: Solar Oysters LLC

Solar panels powering the Solar Oyster Production System (SOPS) platform. From filtering water to creating habitats for other marine species, oysters are a vital component of the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem. On land, they are the center…
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The Science of Solar-Pollinator Habitat: Fact Sheet

How current and future research can help us understand the role of pollinator-friendly solar in biodiversity conservation. AgriSolar_FactSheet_The-Science-of-Solar-Pollinator-Habitat_011823Download
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WEBINAR: Crunching Numbers on AgriSolar: Context and Costs of Agrivoltaics in the US

In this first episode of the AgriSolar Clearinghouse webinar series, NREL’s Jordan Macknick, James McCall, and Haley Paterson join us to discuss the context and costs of agrivoltaics in the United States.

Case Study: Sunzaun Vertical Solar System

Sunstall, a California-based solar installer, is helping farmers harvest the sun twice with their new vertical solar system, known as Sunzaun. The Sunzaun vertical solar system was originally engineered by a company in Germany. After…

Agrisolar as Drought Protection  

By Asaf Maman and Avi Elkayam, Trigo Solar  Declining precipitation levels and the associated reduction in arable land can negatively impact rural communities and pose a threat to food security. While utility-scale solar projects reduce…

Case Study: Soliculture Research Greenhouse

When it comes to conversations surrounding energy and water use in the modern world, the agricultural industry’s consumption of both is often at the forefront. As the world’s population continues to grow, humanity is tasked with the challenge…
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AgriSolar Podcast Ep. 2: Keeping Family Farms in Family Hands with AgriSolar in Massachusetts

This episode is a conversation between Stacie Peterson, NCAT’s Energy Program Director and Manager of the AgriSolar Clearinghouse, and Nate Tassinari, the owner of Million Little Sunbeams, a third-generation hay farm in Monson, Massachusetts. It…

Case Study: Mauntel’s Solar Sheep

Written By: Alex Delworth, Clean Energy Policy Associate; Center for Rural Affairs Just off the campus of Maharishi University in Fairfield Iowa, sits a 1.1-megawatt (MW) solar farm. Beneath the panels, a flock of sheep and their newborn…
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A Preliminary Investigation of the Effect of Solar Panels, Rotation Frequency on the Grazing Behavior of Sheep

A study led by Emma Kampherbeek (Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands)  highlights multiple benefits of coupling solar energy production to sheep grazing in rangeland systems. This project investigated how sheep use solar arrays as a forage site and the impacts of solar array presence on forage quality in a California Central Coast site with a Mediterranean climate. Sheep with access to solar panels graze more than when they are on nearby native rangeland without an array.  This increased foraging behavior is likely driven by a combination of the protection that the array provides the sheep from weather conditions, which increases grazing time, as well as increased protein content and digestibility of forage with the array footprint.

November Teatime: Emerging Agrivoltaic Regulations and Contractual Considerations: A Review of Solar Grazing

For this November teatime, we were excited to have Tyler Swanson and Jessica Guarino from the University of Illinois join us to discuss the latest on agrivoltaic regulations (check out their discussion of zoning, for example), solar grazing…

Case Study: Far Niente Winery

Photo courtesy of Far Niente Winery At Far Niente Winery, respecting the land and all it provides is just second nature. Since 1979, their winemakers have been coaxing award-winning wines out of the grapes grown on their Napa Valley estate,…

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