Hello, solar enthusiasts! Today, I am excited to delve into an enlightening topic that’s gaining momentum in the solar industry: agrivoltaics. This might be quite a title, but don’t worry; by the end of this blog post, you’ll understand what it is, why it matters, and the significant strides the United States is making in this area. This might even inspire you to consider solar panels for your home, too!
So, what exactly is agrivoltaics? Simply stated, agrivoltaics is the innovative practice of combining agriculture with photovoltaics, aka solar power generation. Imagine a solar array for your home, but on a much larger scale and creatively incorporated within farmlands!
I recently took part in the second annual AgriVoltaics Europe conference, and it has been evident that the United States, in response to agrivoltaics, is breaking barriers and catching up to Europe when it comes to implementing policies and projects.
A prime example is the impressive 1.3 GW agrivoltaic array in northern Indiana. In New York State, an exciting specialty crop array project is set to launch in 2024. Moreover, the Shines program, based in Illinois, sports over 50 projects opting to integrate agricultural production within half of their solar arrays.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) reports almost 6 GW of agrivoltaic generation capacity in the United States. That encompasses everything from solar panels on grazing pastures to entire crop fields. This indicates the trend is not just about massive solar companies; even the smaller scale, distributed-generation programs in states such as Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland are expected to boost their generation capacity by a gigawatt within the next 18 months.
The potential of agrivoltaic technology isn’t just about efficient land use. It’s also about energy cost reduction. With energy costs steadily rising both in Europe and the United States, and a natural gas supply vulnerable to political and economic unrest, solar is emerging as a stable, cost-efficient solution. Europe is recognizing this reality, gradually phasing out incentives for solar, which is driving more projects to use readily available off-the-shelf racking configurations – the likes of which are commonly employed in the US utility and distributed-generation markets.
The idea of agrivoltaics might initially seem complex, but it’s essentially about smart designing. For instance, Italy is offering incentives for projects that are at least 6 ft 8 in off the ground – similar to the two-in-portrait solar panel configurations widely embraced in the United States.
Of course, constraints exist too. Every US state, though having more farmland than Europe, faces the challenge of finite electricity grid interconnection capacity and productive farmland. Yet, given the ample solar yields in many parts of the country, we can indeed grow food and produce solar simultaneously on a significant scale, provided the industry and local decision-makers are bold enough to go this route.
Thanks to years of research and experimentation, the United States is well-equipped to size agrivoltaics for its market effectively. Going by what I see, we might be catching up and even potentially overtaking Europe in this domain.
Are you thinking about adding a solar array for your home? Even on a smaller scale, these developments could be inspiring. After all, the potential of solar knows no bounds – it starts with us, whether we’re big solar companies or homeowners thinking about stepping into renewable energy. Stay tuned to this blog to keep up with all things solar!
Original Article: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/01/16/has-the-u-s-caught-up-with-european-agrivoltaic-deployment/
