Covering (Certain) Crops with Solar Panels Improves the Performance of Both
ikanreed writes:
According to a recent talk presented at the Ecological Society of America, solar panels and crops aren't always in competition.
In dry, hot areas, cooling by transpiration, not sunlight is the limiting factor of crop growth. Sometimes as much of 3/4 of sunlight is wasted in these places. An experiment by Greg Barron-Gafford hoped to take advantage of that.
"In an agrivoltaic system," Barron-Gafford says, "the environment under the panels is much cooler in the summer and stays warmer in the winters. This not only lessens rates of evaporation of irrigation waters in the summer, but it also means that plants don't get as stressed out." Crops that grow under lower drought stress require less water, and because they don't wilt as easily midday due to heat, they are able to photosynthesize longer and grow more efficiently.
Moreover, the passive cooling of the transpiration the plants are doing cools the solar cells and helps keep them closer to optimum operating temperatures.
The solar panels themselves also benefit from the co-location. In places where it is above 75 degrees Fahrenheit when sunny, solar panels begin under-performing because they become too hot. The evaporation of water from the crops creates localized cooling, which reduces heat stress on the panels overhead and boosts their performance. In short, it is a win-win-win at the food-water-energy nexus.
Saving water in drought-parched areas, producing renewable electricity without needing to develop new land, increasing crop yields, and better performing solar panels. What's not to like?
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