Throwing shade is solar energy’s new superpower

Farmers carefully position solar panels to provide shade, thereby doing away with the need for netting and the expensive labor to deploy it.

In rural America, the shoulder-high corn is increasingly competing with a new cash crop: solar power. Acres of solar panels shine brightly in fields along interstates and rural byways, signaling a change in how America’s farming country generates income. The need for a happy marriage between these old and new industries has inspired a burst of innovation and a new word to describe the combination: Agrivoltaics.

The Inflation Reduction Act includes billions of dollars in renewable energy funds that will accelerate the adoption of solar and other renewables. Some of the new solar panels will land on rooftops, but most will be concentrated in large utility-scale arrays that the US Department of Energy claims could eventually cover an area roughly equivalent in size to Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Click here to read the full article
Source: The Washington Post

—

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
Research shows the need for storage decreases if the majority of the solar capacity is installed vertically in an east-west orientation.New research says vertical solar panels have improved performance
Solar and agriculture are beginning to converge as farmers learn renewable energy can make farming more efficient.Why solar & farming is a match made in heaven
DOE is launching the Cadmium Telluride Accelerator Consortium to make CdTe solar cells less expensive, more efficient & develop new markets.DOE launches $20 million consortium to advance US-made cadmium telluride solar cells
Solar panels over parking lots produce clean electricity without wasting space and provide shade in sunny, warm weather for drivers.Why not cover ugly parking lots with solar panels?
Agrivoltaics could help solar companies win over opponents who want to see the land’s former use maintained.Sheep graze on Texas solar farms as renewable energy companies embrace agriculture
NGOs and governments have implemented renewable energy plans in different communities in the Amazon with positive results.Electricity day and night: Solar power is changing isolated Amazon communities
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 *

This 100% solar community endured Hurricane Ian with no loss of power and minimal...Babcock Ranch has nearby solar array that generates more electricity than the 2,000-home neighborhood uses.The record 99.4 TW hours the EU generated in solar electricity this summer meant it didn’t need to buy 20 billion cubic metres of fossil gas.Here’s how solar energy saved Europeans $29 billion this summer