Tag Archive for: AgriSolar

AgriSolar News Roundup: GivePower Aquavoltaics, Solar Decommissioning Resource Guide, Chinese Aquavoltaics Deployment, Solar Irrigation in Nebraska

GivePower Desalinates Water Overseas Using Aquavoltaics 

“Austin, Texas-based GivePower started by installing solar panels for schools, community centers or other projects in communities in need. But GivePower founder Hayes Bernard realized that people, especially women and girls, would not attend school if they had to walk 8 miles to get water every day. That’s when the idea to include water pumps and desalination came to mind.  

GivePower has seven operational desalination sites in countries like Haiti, Kenya, and Colombia. Four additional solar water farms are expected to become operational by the end of this year. GivePower has different sized desalination sites and setups. The largest one, the Solar Water Farm Max, produces up to 18,500 gallons of water daily — enough to support 35,000 people. It has a solar structure that acts like a roof over the water tanks and the twenty-foot equivalent unit shipping containers that house the desalination technology.” – American Shipper 

Resource Guide for Decommissioning Solar Energy Systems 

A new resource guide on decommissioning solar energy systems, written by AgriSolar Clearinghouse partner Heidi Kolbeck-Urlacher, offers resources for understanding solar project end-of-lifecycle management and recommendations for local governments to consider when drafting decommissioning ordinances. The report is now available through the Center for Rural Affairs here.  

“Solar projects are often located in rural areas and can provide numerous benefits to nearby communities, including lease payments to landowners, tax revenue to fund infrastructure and services, and the creation of both permanent and temporary jobs. County officials are typically responsible for enacting siting or zoning standards to help ensure solar development is supported by local residents. This can include planning for the eventual decommissioning of energy projects that have reached the end of their life cycles.” – Center for Rural Affairs 

The guide includes examples of decommissioning costs, extending performance periods of solar systems, recycling and disposal of solar panels, sample task lists associated with decommissioning solar systems, and recommendations for plans that define obligations of developers during the decommissioning process.  

Chinese Fishery Deploys 70MW Solar Plant 

“Farms where fish and algae thrive under solar panels might have secured their place in a future powered by renewable energy. Concord New Energy, a Chinese company that specializes in wind and solar power project development and operation, has installed a 70 MW solar plant atop a fishpond in an industrial park in Cangzhou, China’s Hebei region. The hybrid system integrates solar power generation with fishery in a unique way that not only saves land but also produces clean energy. This hybrid system is straightforward: a solar array is installed above the fish pond’s water surface, and the water area beneath the solar array is used for fish and shrimp farming. 

The fishery-solar hybrid system is a type of floating solar farm that has grown in popularity over the years as solar power has evolved to meet the needs of our increasingly climactic times. For example, the United States has just begun construction of the country’s biggest floating solar farm in New Jersey.” – Interesting Engineering 

Valley Irrigation Develops Solar Irrigation Site in Nebraska 

Valley Irrigation has announced the completion of its first North American agrisolar installation in Nebraska through its partnership with Farmers National Company. 

“The installation is located near Davenport, Nebraska, and will provide solar power to a Valley center pivot by offsetting energy consumption used to irrigate the field. Farmers National Company’s landowner client invested in Tier 1 solar panels, which are the highest-quality panels and are also used on major utility-sized installations. They are built to withstand the often-harsh conditions of Nebraska weather, including strong winds and hail.” – Valmont 

“Matt Gunderson is with Farmers National Company and says it helps producers become more sustainable and increase return on investment. “We create some on farm generation not only to power a farm, but how do we tie it back into the grid system to support the electricity needs that are out there? And, along the way with it, sell that electricity back for some excess needs and create some investment opportunities and income generation for producers.” – Brownfield 

Techno-economic feasibility analysis of Benban solar Park

By 2035, Egypt pursues to generate 22% of the total electricity from photovoltaic power plants to meet the national spreading demand for electricity. The Egyptian government has implemented feed-in tariffs (FiT) support program to provide the economic incentives to invest in the PV power plants. The present study is carried out to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of a largescale grid-connected photovoltaic (LS GCPV) of the Benban Solar Park with a total capacity of 1600 MW AC producing annual electricity of 3.8 TWh. The characteristics of PV panels considering the meteorological data of Benban Solar Park are evaluated. Additionally, the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to constructing Benban Solar Park is assessed. As well, the influences of annual operation and maintenance cost and the interest rate on the electricity cost and the payback period are evaluated. The results indicate that the electricity cost is about 8.1¢US/kWh with 10.1 years payback period, which is indeed economically feasible with an interest rate of 12%. Furthermore, the Benban Solar Park will avoid annually almost 1.2 million tons of greenhouse gas. The working conditions of the previous study which aimed to improve the performance of solar panels using cooling water are similar to the Benban solar Park. This study showed that utilizing of water cooling for solar panels leads to an increase in the electrical energy output by 8.2%. This attributed to maximizing the benefit when cultivating the vast land area on which the station is built, and using the irrigation water to cool the PV panels, and then for the irrigation process. Thus, a double advantage can be achieved; first, an increase in the electrical energy output by 8.2% in the summer months where the panel surface temperature is high. Second, the agricultural crops as an economic value, as the solar panels are located at a height of 1.5m from the surface of the earth. The PV solar panels are installed above the existing cultivated areas while the maintained spaces among rows of PV modules provide the necessary solar radiation for crops.



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AgriSolar News Roundup: Aquavoltaics in Taiwan, AgriSolar in Italy, National Pollinator Week Recognized

Aquavoltaics to be Developed in Taiwan by 2023 

“UK solar specialist Lightsource is developing a 150 MW solar park at a fishery in Budai, in Taiwan’s Chiayi County. Construction is expected to commence in June 2023. The company is co-developing the project with Germany’s Green Rock Energy. They plan to start construction on the facility in June 2023. Lightsource said the project will be one of the largest fishery solar farms in Taiwan and will be able to generate 210,000 MWh per year.” – PV Magazine Global 

Farmers Could Become Energy Exporters in Italy 

“Italy wants the European Union to allow farmers to sell surplus electricity they generate on their land, a measure that could help soften a bloc-wide energy crunch. “Italian agricultural companies have huge surfaces available that should be filled with solar panels,” Agriculture Minister Stefano Patuanelli said in an interview Monday, referring to the roofs of stables, granaries and sheds. 

Solar sharing – which involves using farmland for producing crops as well as generating power – has gained traction in recent years, as farmers have sought to cash in on a renewable project boom. It is also not uncommon for them to lease their land and be paid indirectly, without owning the project.” – Bloomberg  

National Pollinator Week Recognized  

“Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) proclamation in recognition and support of National Pollinator Week (June 20-26, 2022). Pollinator species, such as bees, other insects, birds, and bats play a critical role in producing more than 100 crops grown in the United States. Honeybee pollination alone adds more than $18 billion in value to agricultural crops annually. USDA recognizes the critical role pollinators play in agriculture and supports pollinator health through research, data collection, diagnostic services, monitoring, pollinator habitat enhancement programs and pollinator health investments.” – USDA 

Manzo Elementary School Solar Garden

Manzo Elementary School, located in Tucson, Arizona, is a Flagship School for the University of Arizona Community and School Garden Program and a fellow agrivoltaic site to Biosphere2. The school has had an award-winning ecology program for over a decade, which includes a garden and hen house cared for by the students as a way of learning. In 2015, the school erected a 193-kW (600 PV panels) solar PV array as a part of the Tucson Unified School District Solar Program. This system produces approximately 490-500 MWh per year.

The Manzo Solar Array

Working with Greg Barron-Gafford from the University of Arizona, the school installed a small garden under the panels and an unshaded control garden to the west of the panels. Plants range from potatoes to tomatoes, basil, beans, and squash. The research on this site is similar to Biophere2 in that they study phenology, soil health, water consumption, and greenhouse gas consumption. Graduate students typically study both sites for a comprehensive thesis.

Harvested food grown in the solar garden at Manzo School. Photo: Mariah Rogers, University of Arizona

What makes this site unique is the participation of the Manzo’s students, who take part in the studies by assisting with planting, caring, watering, and harvesting the fruits and vegetables. Once harvested, the food goes to the Food Literacy Program, located in the Manzo cafeteria, so the students can then learn how to wash, prep, and cook the food they grew. Research at the school show similar results to Biosphere 2. A key finding in this research proved that solar garden plants need less watering. This is important for farming in Arizona, where temperatures can reach well over 100oF and water sources are slowly being depleted. Research also found that seeding can take place earlier due to the cooler temperatures under the panels, allowing for a possible second planting and increased production. The solar garden plants can flourish in extreme weather because they are shaded during the hottest times of the day.

Overall, Greg Barron-Gafford and his graduate students are proving that solar and farming can co-exist to benefit landowners and farmers alike. The research being conducted at both Manzo School and Biosphere2 will have positive impacts on the co-existence of solar production and desert farming.  

Under the panels at Manzo Solar Garden
Berries under the panels at Manzo Solar Garden

Massachusetts Farm Partners with BlueWave in Dual-Use Solar

The Knowlton Farm, a Massachusetts agrisolar operation, has recently partnered with BlueWave Solar to expand agrisolar operations on the farm in Grafton, according to an article by The New York Times.  

Owner Paul Knowlton stated that the farm typically produces a variety of vegetables, dairy products, and hay, but also produces solar energy. He said that solar was already part of the farming operations, providing electricity for both his barn and home, but through this partnership with BlueWave, the farm will include a parcel of land where solar panels will share space with crops, known as dual-use solar, according to the report. 

The dual-use solar operation includes adjusting the heights of solar panels to allow farm operations, including workers, equipment, and grazing animals, to operate underneath them. Spacing and angles of the solar panels are adjusted to benefit crops growing below them—shielding them from the elements, including intense heat. Some of the panels will have cattle grazing beneath them while others will grow butternut squash and lettuce. 

The AgriSolar Clearinghouse will be touring the Knowlton Farm on August 10, 2022, as part of the Follow the Sun Tour. The tour is a series of hands-on field trips to see firsthand the benefits of co-locating sustainable agriculture and solar energy. Other locations on the tour include the Massachusetts Amherst South Deerfield research site and the Million Little Sunbeams family farm. 

US Solar Partners with T-Mobile on Minnesota Solar Gardens

US Solar and T-Mobile have partnered on 14 Solar Community Gardens in Minnesota. T-Mobile’s sunscription to US Solar’s Community Solar Garden means the company will benefit from local solar without upfront costs and equipment. The energy-cost savings will apply to seven Minnesota counties.  

Erica Forsman, Vice President of Origination at US Solar, stated, “We’re focused on providing solutions to our commercial partners that make it simple and beneficial to support local clean energy. We are excited to partner with T-Mobile and provide a renewable energy solution to support their industry-leading sustainability goals in Minnesota and across the nation,” according to Businesswire. 

US Solar also partners with Excel Energy, not only operate over 120MW of renewable energy to their grid but has implemented AgriSolar operations by planting pollinator-friendly vegetation on those sites. This pollinator-friendly vegetation on solar sites reduces stormwater runoff, enhances soil regeneration, and increases air quality in surrounding communities.   

Three of the Minnesota Community Solar Gardens began operation in late 2021, and the other 11 are in various stages of development and construction. In early 2021, T-Mobile became the first telecom to achieve their RE100 commitment to source 100% of their electric usage from renewable energy.     

Learn more here. 

Techno Economic Modeling for Agrivoltaics: Can Agrivoltaics be more profitable than Ground mounted PV?

Agrivoltaics is a dual land-use approach to collocate solar energy generation with agriculture for preserving the terrestrial ecosystem and enabling food-energy-water synergies. Here, we present a systematic approach to model the economic performance of agrivoltaics relative to standalone ground-mounted PV and explore how the module design configuration can affect the dual food-energy economic performance. A remarkably simple criterion for economic feasibility is quantified that relates the land preservation cost to dual food-energy profit. We explore case studies including both high and low value crops under fixed tilt bifacial modules oriented either along the conventional North/South facings or vertical East/West facings. For each module configuration, the array density is varied to explore an economically feasible design space relative to ground-mounted PV for a range of module to land cost ratio (𝑴𝑳) – a location-specific indicator relating the module technology (hardware and installation) costs to the soft (land acquisition, tax, overheads, etc.) costs. To offset a typically higher agrivoltaic module cost needed to preserve the cropland, both East/West and North/South orientated modules favor high value crops, reduced (<60%) module density, and higher 𝑴𝑳 (>𝟐𝟓). In contrast, higher module density and an increased feed-in-tariff (𝑭𝑰𝑻) relative to ground-mounted PV are desirable at lower 𝑴𝑳. The economic trends vary sharply for 𝑴𝑳< 10 but tend to saturate for 𝑴𝑳> 20. For low value crops, ~15% additional 𝑭𝑰𝑻 can enable economic equivalence to ground-mounted PV at standard module density. Researchers have presented a techno-economic modeling framework to assess and predict the economic performance of 𝐴𝑉 systems relative to the standard ground mounted 𝑃𝑉. The effects of module design configurations including array density and orientation, income from crop, technology specific and land related costs, and 𝐹𝐼𝑇 are explored. To support cropland preservation, 𝐴𝑉 typically has a higher module technology cost as compared to standard 𝑃𝑉 primarily due to elevated mounting and customized foundations that can potentially make it economically non-attractive for 𝑃𝑉 investors. They show that it is possible to design an economically attractive 𝐴𝑉 system by selecting suitable crops and module configuration for the given land costs and 𝐹𝐼𝑇.



Techno Economic Modeling for Agrivoltaics

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Agrivoltaic Systems Enhance Farmers’ Profits through Broccoli Visual Quality and Electricity Production without Dramatic Changes in Yield, Antioxidant Capacity, and Glucosinolates

This paper shows that agrivoltaic systems allow us to reach sustainable food and electricity goals with high land-use efficiency. The study shows the yield, antioxidant capacity, and secondary metabolite of broccoli and electricity production were analyzed under an agrivoltaic system over three cultivation periods. The study also reports that agrivoltaic with additional shading treatment produced greener broccoli with a higher level of consumer preference than open-field grown ones.

 



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AgriSolar News Roundup: Solar Leasing Guidebook and Workshops, Maryland Solar Bills, Australian AgriSolar

American Farmland Trust Announces Guidebook and Workshops for Solar Leasing 

American Farmland Trust, a stakeholder in the AgriSolar Clearinghouse, has announced they will offer virtual and in-person workshops designed to help ranchland and farmland owners understand the emerging solar-development field. 

“Solar energy development is accelerating rapidly in our region, and what we’re seeing is that farmland and rangeland owners are on the frontlines of this trend,” says Addie Candib, AFT Pacific Northwest Regional Director. “Many communities are wrestling with the question of whether – and where – solar should be built, but at some point, it will be up to the individual landowner to decide what’s in the long-term best interests for their business and their families. That’s what this project is about – helping farmers and ranchers to make informed decisions about the future of their land.” – American Farmland Trust 

Pair of Community Solar Bills Passes in Maryland 

“The Maryland legislature has taken steps towards strengthening its ongoing community solar pilot program, passing a pair of bills targeted at increasing the amount of eligible projects, and increasing the incentive for such projects to be developed. HB 1039 and HB 440 create tax incentives for the development of agrivoltaic community solar projects which serve low- and moderate-income customers on rooftops, brownfields, landfills, and clean fills, as well as increasing maximum project capacity to 5 MW. The bills both build on regulatory action from 2021, which expanded the program to allow community solar to power the equivalent of an additional 6,840 Maryland homes, while also allowing community solar projects to be built on clean-fill construction sites, transforming previously unusable industrial locations into clean solar energy generation sites.” – PV Magazine 

Australian Solar Park will Host Crops in New AgriSolar Program 

“Italy’s Enel will launch an experimental agrivoltaics program at its 34 MW Cohuna Solar Farm in the Australian state of Victoria to help formulate a ‘best practices’ template for utility-scale solar PV sites in other countries. Enel Green Power Australia, a subsidiary of Italian energy giant Enel, will explore how to combine solar PV generation and agricultural production in a new research program to be undertaken at its Cohuna Solar Farm in northern Victoria. Much of the land near the Cohuna Solar Farm is home to sheep grazing operations. While ‘solar grazing’ is proving to be a popular form of land co-use for large-scale solar, other forms of agrivoltaics are emerging that support horticulture, viticulture, aquaculture and even cropping activities.” – PV Magazine 

Characterizing the Ecological Effects of Utility-scale Photovoltaic Arrays in Rangeland

By Dr. Seeta Sistla, Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

With the dual growth of utility-scale solar energy and food production, fallowed agricultural landscapes represent a particularly promising area for the deployment of solar arrays because these systems have the potential to recover with shifts in management practices (Tscharntke et al., 2012;  Wright et al., 2012). California is a national leader of both solar energy development and agricultural production. As water becomes scarcer and costlier, there is growing tension between land-use choices centered around maintaining conventional agricultural systems, transitioning land to renewable energy farming through solar energy development, shifting agricultural strategy (e.g., conventional to conservation farming), or alternate land uses (e.g., housing development).

Placing solar arrays on farmland and other human-modified landscapes represents a promising area to unite energy production with ecological restoration and the sustained conservation of ecologically valuable land. The potential for ecologically improving degraded landscapes with targeted solar array placement will be governed by biogeochemical interactions between abiotic and biotic factors (Figure 1).  Despite the potential ecological and economic synergistic benefits that coupling these land uses could create, the impacts of solar arrays on fallowed farmland and other disturbed landscapes are not well understood.

Figure 1. Microclimatic effects of USSE array on fallowed agricultural landscapes.

To address this deficit, we are studying the direct and indirect effects of utility-scale solar energy in conjunction with sheep grazing on soil and plant characteristics. This work includes collaborating with agricultural stakeholders, undergraduate and graduate students, and solar developers (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Sampling plant and soil conditions at a solar farm on the California Central Coast.

To date, we have found that land in the direct footprint of the array panels hosts a plant community with increased nutrient content and forage quality and maintains a greener plant community for longer periods than the surround area.  These findings likely reflect reduced water stress due to shading in our arid western landscapes, highlighting the potential synergy between carbon-free energy production, rangeland management, and water conservation (Figure 3). Our group continues to investigate these plant and soil responses to array placement at two solar sites on the Central Coast of California and looks forward to opportunities to collaborate with others.

Figure 3. Sheep grazing within one of our solar array study sites. Note the shift in vegetation greenness beyond the array area.

References

Tscharntke, T., Y. Clough, T. C. Wanger, L. Jackson, I. Motzke, I. Perfecto, J. Vandermeer, and A. Whitbread. 2012. Global food security, biodiversity conservation and the future of agricultural intensification. Biological Conservation 151:53–59.

Wright, H. L., I. R. Lake, and P. M. Dolman. 2012. Agriculture-a key element for conservation in the developing world. Conservation Letters 5:11–19.