Solar Panels Plus Farming? Agrivoltaics Explained

But what do you think? Should we be trying to use agrivoltaics everywhere? Are there any other dual use renewable energy examples that you know about? If you liked this video, be sure to check out 28,000 Year Nuclear Waste Battery? Diamond Batteries Explained https://youtu.be/VWwKqSzakYU?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi5LVxHfWfQE6-Y_HnK-sgXS

Sunny California with it's water shortages comes to mind for this. Saving 50% water costs, adding income from power generation and maintaining same yield - a win-win.

In India, we do something like this by placing solar panels at the top of canals. Because there are lots of canals in India. The extra benefit is solar panels reduce the loss of water due to evaporation providing extra for agriculture. The shade also prevents the growth of algae in the water. And the presence of water underneath keeps the panels cool.

To me agrivoltaics seems to be most effective in smaller operations where heavy machinery isn't used. The raspberry farm was a perfect example of that. Basically if it grows in a plastic tunnel and it's harvested by hand, agrivoltaics will probably be perfect.

I have a home garden/homestead in the desert and I'm constantly having to use shade cloth to protect my crops. Even sun loving crops like peppers can get burnt to a crisp if it gets particularly hot and bright. I'm legit considering trying to slap together a home setup like this.

As a Dutch Greenhouse Manufacturing Engineer I can already tell you that we calculate the steel constructions with the posibility to directly or later install solar panels. This means that when the end customer wants to place solar panels he can do so without any repurcussions from the local governments as the building permit and the construction calculations are already in place for any eventual agrivoltaic farming. But your story has enlightened me in a few more ways so thank you for that!

Yes we should, I’m trying to learn as much as I can about it to try it on my farm.

Sometimes I wonder what the world would have looked like without innovations like this😊, my advice for everyone, both in the agricultural industry and elsewhere, is to evolve with the world in others so as not to to be left behind

Although I did not know the concept existed I imagined it and went searching for just this idea. I searched ‘can you grow under solar panels?’ and was VERY PLEASED to find this video on agrivoltaics!!!! Thank you for this beautifully explained video. We are building a home in Jamaica and I was saddened by the builder’s plan to create a solar park which would use up so much of the precious land space (a slope that has to be terraced) that I had plans to create garden spaces. I wish you were closer to Jamaica so I could actually see the agrivoltaics in person. Thanks again for this video!

I wish that instead of the "car broiler" top deck on parking decks in urban areas, the top deck would be covered with solar panel for shading cars & people, as well as generating electricity. This could be beneficial for powering more charging stations in the deck.

There is another potential winner in this scenario - the farmworker who is less exposed to heat stress and the elements in general. Has there been any work looking at health benefits to workers?

There are also new solar panels that allow the wave lengths that plants need to go mostly through the panel. This would be ideal for greenhouses as they already have the metal frames.

In Pakistan, we have a project underway to put floating solar panels over water dams. Makes the surface area usable, reduces water evaporation and helps keep the panels cool and I don't know the technical details but somehow it also helps improve the efficiency of panels too (in terms of generating energy per unit).

Glad to see a SMART application of solar on land that does not waste the land underneath. The shade the panels produce should be optimized. Parking lots, the building underneath in hot climates

I've been interested in Agrivoltaics for the past 2 years and I still learned new things from your video. Thank you Matt! Another excellent video!

I saw this a few years back at the Biodome in Arizona as a study, it help ed keep temperatures way lower for the plants in arizona's aggressive heat, and helped growth all around.

Hello Matt, now that I'm retired, my plan is to give hydroponic farming a try. I was concerned about the world getting hotter. In NJ the past summer was unbearable. I love the thought of combining these 2 products. It is a win-win for everyone. Last week, I went to a farm. I saw that they used grape vines over a chicken coup. They said that this was a win-win for the past few years. Why buy chicken waste ! I found this fascinating . Keep up the great work !

This seems important. For me the measure is the production of two hectares of agrovoltaics, compared with 1ha of traditional agriculture and 1ha of normal photovoltaics. I like the idea that panels can produce electricity and at the same time produce useful shade.

Fish pond covered with a PV installation. PV panels shade the water, reduce evaporation and keep the water cool, while the remaining water evaporation cools the PV panels.

As an employee of a company that operates of some of GroenLeven's solar park portfolio, seeing a pilot project of theirs so close to home featured in this video was a very pleasant surprise! For anyone who wants to know, there are currently more Dutch shade-crop farmers installing solar on top of their greenhouses (not as a pilot, but as actual revenue generating projects). Driving through the vast greenhouse landscape north of Amsterdam and The Hague you can see many of these popping up, great development to see :)