Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
mercurialtrends.com
Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
1–10 of 76 posts
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#2I would assume that the biggest factor in this would be that the racks and solar panels make it very difficult to use large machinery such as tractors and harvesting machines? Somehow this isn't even addressed.
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#3I would assume that the biggest factor in this would be that the racks and solar panels make it very difficult to use large machinery such as tractors and harvesting machines? Somehow this isn't even addressed.
You're correct that this is limited to manual harvesting but isn't that pretty common for partial shade crops?
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#4I would assume that the biggest factor in this would be that the racks and solar panels make it very difficult to use large machinery such as tractors and harvesting machines? Somehow this isn't even addressed.
these look geared towards small-scale, high $/kg farming for berries, veg, and other hand-picked food. I'd imagine anything on a larger scale for high-yield grain farming would be a waste of land
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#5I would assume that the biggest factor in this would be that the racks and solar panels make it very difficult to use large machinery such as tractors and harvesting machines? Somehow this isn't even addressed.
The racking is either spaced to allow machinery between rows, or panels are suspended using cables and a structure above the machinery max height. Not a consideration for crops that are hand harvested.
https://www.farmersjournal.ie/agrivoltaics-can-crops-and-sol...
https://d3mdtxxgfz6upn.cloudfront.net/WEBFILES/000/753/181/1...
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#6Do we have electric tractors?
Are they viable given that weight is a serious issue for machinery on fields?
Having lived on a rural farm, with solar panels on the barn, if you can use the harvested power on the farm, great, but once you start trying to distribute it, the problems start to show up because rural infrastructure isn't good, and there isn't enough demand in the local grid.
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#7Do we have electric tractors? Are they viable given that weight is a serious issue for machinery on fields? Having lived on a rural farm, with solar panels on the barn, if you can use the harvested power on the farm, great, but once you start trying to distribute it, the problems start to show up because rural infrastructure isn't good, and there isn't enough demand in the local grid.
Sounds feasible. You’d need battery storage or less batteries and orchestration to charge farm equipment during solar production hours if no grid connection available, but micro grids are a well worn path at this point. Very popular in Australia’s western geography and their Northern Territory, where there is not much transmission infra to speak of.
https://electrek.co/2022/11/23/caterpillar-demonstrates-firs...
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#8I would assume that the biggest factor in this would be that the racks and solar panels make it very difficult to use large machinery such as tractors and harvesting machines? Somehow this isn't even addressed.
You're correct that this is limited to manual harvesting but isn't that pretty common for partial shade crops?
Partial shade crops include broccoli, asparagus, kale, carrots, brussels sprouts, peas…basically all the healthy stuff. Adding a whole second revenue stream to their production would make them more competitive with the unhealthy stuff (corn, rice, wheat).
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#9I would assume that the biggest factor in this would be that the racks and solar panels make it very difficult to use large machinery such as tractors and harvesting machines? Somehow this isn't even addressed.
If you're already putting structures in the field with the plant, I wonder if they could support the movement of smaller machines that do the same task.
Instead of driving a factory over the crop, imagine a variety of smaller robots zooming around on rails or something. Like https://farm.bot but huge.
Re: Agrivoltaics: A Sustainable Synergy Between Agriculture and Solar Energy
#10I would assume that the biggest factor in this would be that the racks and solar panels make it very difficult to use large machinery such as tractors and harvesting machines? Somehow this isn't even addressed.
You're correct that this is limited to manual harvesting but isn't that pretty common for partial shade crops?
It's also pretty common to use solar fields for pasturing, especially where the slopes are too steep for heavy machinery.