Oregon State University Research Shows Bright Future for Agrivoltaics
In our 2020 Biennial Energy Report, we highlighted some of the cool stories happening around energy in Oregon.
One of our stories was about Oregon State University’s research in combining agriculture and solar photovoltaics (agrivoltaics) for the mutual benefit of the environment and farms. This story appears in our Policy Brief about Agriculture and Energy.
Oregon is home to more than 37,000 farms across 16 million acres of the state. Our agricultural producers raise animals, supply dairy products, and grow food – and sometimes even generate renewable energy. Wind energy is a good fit in several rural areas of the state where there are strong wind resources and development is compatible with land use and agricultural requirements. While many in the agricultural community have concerns about the ability to farm around solar arrays, for some Oregon farms and ranches, solar development could fit well into their cropping or grazing operations. Such “dual-use development” is subject to rules adopted in 2018 by the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission.
Oregon State University researchers and students, led by Associate Professor Chad Higgins, are studying situations where Oregon farms can blend solar energy and agriculture for mutual benefit. Professor Higgins reports that they want to accomplish four things: more food, better food, less water use, and more energy. So far, the school’s research is showing that marrying solar panels (photovoltaics) and agriculture – into “agrivoltaics” – has promise for some of Oregon’s important crops, with potential benefits for farmers and the environment.
Plants need light to grow – but it turns out, they don’t always need that light from the direct sun, and in certain cases actually thrive in low-light conditions. OSU’s research shows that some plants are less stressed when they have partial shade and produce higher quality crops with less water. One OSU study of pasture grass showed that adding solar to the land quadrupled the water efficiency and doubled the production. Other studies showed that agrivoltaics increased tomato and bean yields; boosted production in restored bee habitat; and even changed sheep behavior and lamb growth patterns, with the sheep seeking out the shade provided by the solar arrays.
Solar arrays in an agrivoltaics project would likely look different from other ground-mounted solar arrays. OSU’s studies showed that choosing the right orientation and spacing of the panels solely to remove “excess light” helped plants thrive. Panel installation would need to be less dense and elevated off the ground so farm machinery could get through. An unexpected bonus of agrivoltaics is how the plants can in turn help the solar panels. When plants are actively growing, they make the surrounding environment cooler – and solar panels are more efficient (and therefore produce more energy) when they are cooler. For certain Oregon crops, agrivoltaics could provide mutual benefit for the agricultural producer, the solar panels, and the plants.
OSU’s team of researchers and students plan to continue experimenting with ways to help Oregon’s farmers, from researching electricity-generated fertilizer to reducing evaporation to testing an electric tractor. Learn more about OSU’s work and the Nexus of Energy, Water, and Agriculture Laboratory.
Since we published this story in November 2020, OSU officially published its findings on agrivoltaics in December 2020 in the journal Sustainability. OSU’s work was featured in several media stories, including Capital Press, Portland Tribune, PV Magazine, and others.