As more farmland is considered for solar energy development, researchers are exploring whether crops and clean energy can successfully share the same acres. The USDA-funded SCAPES project – short for Sustainably Colocating Agricultural and Photovoltaic Electricity Systems – is studying how growing crops beneath or between solar panels can improve land productivity and farm profitability. University of Illinois Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Madhu Khanna shares background information about the project, including what it is about, the targeted locations, and what they have learned coming into the 6th year of the project.
Khanna says that agrivoltaics, which is a compromise allowing farmers to produce renewable electricity side-by-side with their crop, is much more likely to achieve higher productivity in arid areas and with high-value crops like herbs.
Khanna says we can harness a significant amount of solar energy without giving up too much farmland.
Khanna, however, notes that because solar energy must be produced close to where it is needed, it becomes hard to produce it in places like the Midwest, where farmland is already shrinking.
