Growing crops under solar panels
fastcompany.com
Growing crops under solar panels
1–10 of 154 posts
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#2The website blocked my IP from reading the article because it found my uMatrix suspicious. Just tell me to disable it or deny access to the site. No need to lock out people who like to decide where their computer connects to. That is a bit petty.
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#3I’m no farmer but wouldn’t putting a whole bunch of stuff in a field make it difficult to drive a tractor through it? Like have you seen the size of modern tractors? These panels will need to be 20ft in the air with support posts really far apart to accommodate seed drills and sprayers and other equipment that the tractor pulls behind it.
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#4I’m no farmer but wouldn’t putting a whole bunch of stuff in a field make it difficult to drive a tractor through it? Like have you seen the size of modern tractors? These panels will need to be 20ft in the air with support posts really far apart to accommodate seed drills and sprayers and other equipment that the tractor pulls behind it.
Yes, I think a single picture of a farm setup this way would have increased the value of this article quite a bit.
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#5I’m no farmer but wouldn’t putting a whole bunch of stuff in a field make it difficult to drive a tractor through it? Like have you seen the size of modern tractors? These panels will need to be 20ft in the air with support posts really far apart to accommodate seed drills and sprayers and other equipment that the tractor pulls behind it.
Most of the examples I’ve seen are small scale hand pick farming. But there is nothing about 20’ spans that are outside our technical abilities today. This seems like a rather small obstacle to overcome. Of course this still says nothing about the economic feasibility or impacts.
Thinking more about it, you wouldn’t even need 20’ spans. You’d have articulating struts coming off of a central point between the rows. Panels can be adjusted out of the way of equipment when it needs to pass through if it is interfering.
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#6This idea is being pushed hard right now. I see it everywhere.
You can't grow most crops under solar panels. And the crops you can grow will probably have a lower yield.
This is an idea that's meant to push replacing farmland with solar arrays. I don't necessarily think that's a bad idea for low yield soils, but in my area they are trying to replace high-yield soils (former orchards, vineyards, market gardens) with solar arrays. It doesn't make sense.
What would make sense is arrays that are semi-portable that can be used for re-establishing topsoil. With the right crops, good topsoil can be reestablished in as little as 5-10 years.
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#7I’m no farmer but wouldn’t putting a whole bunch of stuff in a field make it difficult to drive a tractor through it? Like have you seen the size of modern tractors? These panels will need to be 20ft in the air with support posts really far apart to accommodate seed drills and sprayers and other equipment that the tractor pulls behind it.
To some extent that falls into the category of "fiddly details." Solar panels are probably not the best choice for use alongside bulk harvested crops like corn, wheat, soybeans and even potatoes, but an awful lot of "produce" crops are harvested by hand.
The reason I say "fiddly details" is because questions like "what's the best spacing between rows of panels" and "do I plant under the panels or just between rows" can be decided as people look into available equipment, land prices, crop variation and flexibility, etc.
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#8I’m no farmer but wouldn’t putting a whole bunch of stuff in a field make it difficult to drive a tractor through it? Like have you seen the size of modern tractors? These panels will need to be 20ft in the air with support posts really far apart to accommodate seed drills and sprayers and other equipment that the tractor pulls behind it.
Yes, I think a single picture of a farm setup this way would have increased the value of this article quite a bit.
This[0] is a berry farm I was just at. As you can see it’s already covered to protect from extra sun. No tractor could fit anyways.
This[1] is one version of agrovoltaics. The solar panels act like window blinds. They can be configured to follow the sun but also can be configured to “provide optimal shade/cooling throughout the day”.
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#9Outside of weird edge cases (like mushrooms), how does this work when the plants use the sunlight and so do the solar panels?
Re: Growing crops under solar panels
#10This idea is being pushed hard right now. I see it everywhere. You can't grow most crops under solar panels. And the crops you can grow will probably have a lower yield. This is an idea that's meant to push replacing farmland with solar arrays. I don't necessarily think that's a bad idea for low yield soils, but in my area they are trying to replace high-yield soils (former orchards, vineyards, market gardens) with s…
I think the idea is to use this on the handful of crops that prefer the shade. Think small artisanal alfalfa farms with minimal mechanization.
But all in all I agree that it adds considerable complication for little gain. At least in the US we are in zero danger of installing so many solar panels that there is not enough acres left for food. That kind of concern is orders of magnitude away from reality. Especially if you start displacing corn-for-ethanol acres with solar panels used to charge electric vehicles. In that case you actually increase the available acreage for food crops because the solar panels are so much more efficient than corn ethanol.