Agrivoltaics - Part Three
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
This week we’ve been reporting on agrivoltaics, the integration of growing crops and/or livestock on land that is primarily used for solar power generation. Silicon Ranch CTO Nick de Vries says that in many cases, the land underneath solar panels can be more productive than a lot of people realize.
De Vries… “Yes, our land is somewhat shaded and that reduces the amount of sunlight, but we actually see soil health and amount of water as larger impacts of whether or not we can grow forage. And sometimes in the extreme heat, the shade of a solar panel can improve the growing conditions as that it reduces the soil temperature. So we definitely get a lot of forage on our land. There's a lot of sun. We can have strong, healthy ecosystems under our solar panels. You just have to think about sun, soil health and water.”
But if a farmer or landowner is considering working with a solar energy company, what questions should they ask?
De Vries… “Have they worked with the co-location of solar and agriculture before? Who will own the power plant? Maybe you're in a lease where the landowner leases it to the solar company or the solar company wants to buy it. But talk about that structure.”
That’s Silicon Ranch CTO Nick de Vries.
