Can solar farms and crop farms coexist?
Agrivoltaics is a growing research field with government investment
By Luke Groskin
Transcript
James McCall: Solar production in the US really started to pick up around 2012. As solar really became mainstream, there was a lot more concerns of land use changes.
Sujith Ravi: If you look at the type of land that’s been converted for solar installations, over 60 percent of those landscapes are converted croplands.
Chong Seok Choi: They both require flat areas with a lot of sun, and that’s close to transmission infrastructures. So in this context, it is important for us to figure out how to combine farming and solar power production so that both can exist in harmony.