Solar panels meet saffron in new agrivoltaic project

A new agrivoltaic project aims to enlist bifacial solar panels and saffron in the effort to save small farms with new specialty crops.

The rarefied  world of saffron cultivation is about to encounter a solar makeover. About 90% of the global saffron supply comes from Iran, but the allure of raising a spice crop that retails for $5,000 a pound could widen the territory. That includes the unlikely state of Vermont, where a new agrivoltaic experiment is under way. If all goes according to plan, it could pave the way for for a saffron boom in the US and help save small farms, to boot.

The Agrivoltaic Advantage

Conventional solar arrays are designed with little attention to ground cover. An agrivoltaic array is different. The solar panels are arranged to enable various kinds of farming to take place. Raising the panels higher off the ground is one typical strategy, for example.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Clean Technica

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

/0 Comments/by
You might also like
Under a newly announced federal grant, every household in the NW Arctic Borough would receive a heat pump and solar system in every village.In Northwest Arctic, federal grant will bring heat pumps to homes, solar energy to villages
From retired landfills to decommissioned golf courses, murals on the buildings, solar installations are proliferating in unexpected places.Pressed for space, solar farms are getting creative
Researchers in Italy have conducted a series of experiments to assess the quality of wheat growing under elevated agrivoltaic systems.Wheat grows better in agrivoltaic facilities
Researchers found that 6,256 cities across 124 countries could, in theory, meet all their electricity demand from solar panels deployed on nearby water reservoirs.Floating solar panels could completely power thousands of cities
Sheep and solar panels: using solar sites for pastureland
The partial shade offered by solar panels creates a microclimate that reduces evaporation and significantly boosts the production of vegetation in arid climates.Solar panels keeping sheep fed during drought
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *