There are acres of corn on both sides of a narrow country road in Northwest Indiana. It is the end of August and the crop is in full bloom, its golden dew-covered crown glistening in the morning sun.
There is another light on the horizon that is brighter.
Like the super plant, corn produces four rows of solar cells. They are 20 feet tall and climb stems that grow below. Both seem out of place, technology next to nature and as if they had always been there. Because the corn and the panels depend on the sun.
"They're harvesting solar energy anyway," said Mitch Tuinstra, a professor of plant breeding and genetics at Purdue University. "One stores them as electrons and the other stores them in plants."
Tuinstra is one of many Purdue professors and graduate students studying these solar systems at the university's research facility, just a few miles from West Lafayette University.
Agricultural land lends itself well to developing all kinds of sun for the same reasons that it is good for cultivation; it is mostly flat, drains well, and receives plenty of sunlight. Grazing animals like sheep can also adapt well to solar systems. But the difference with these Purdue research panels is that they haven't stopped producing farmland, they're built on the corn itself.
This is a so-called "agrovoltaic" or "agrosolar" practice in which active agriculture and solar energy occupy the same position, rather than separate places. The approach has many complications that the researchers are still trying to resolve, but they see great benefits in improving best practices.
Farmers who want to lease their land for solar energy as an additional source of income will reap greater economic benefits if that land continues to be in production. Some agrivoltaic approaches can even help plants, the researchers say.
"We want to see if we can design systems that have minimal crop productivity loss while maximizing capacity," Tuinstra said. "Instead of just relying on yields or corn prices or soybean prices, you can actually start saying, '$7 corn is how you should run your system and $3 corn is how you should run your system. ".
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In addition, he said, the researchers want to see if the co-location strategy can heal the growing tension between solar power and agriculture in the Corn Belt, where residents and cities are reacting. community.
Solar potential in agricultural landThere is much at stake behind this effort. Solar energy plays a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from fossil fuel-fired power plants, which are causing the deadly effects of climate change.
The US Energy Information Administration estimates that by 2050, when the Paris climate accords require the world to reach net zero carbon emissions to avoid another climate catastrophe, solar power will account for 20% of net electricity generation in the US just 3% in 2020. The Biden administration is investing to get there, including billions through the Solar Inflation Act and investment tax credits, which some analysts say will spur massive growth in the industry.
For example, all these new panels cannot be concentrated in the desert regions of the southwest, according to Tuinstra, because it would be too inefficient to transmit that power to the rest of the country. There should be a localized extension instead. This allows utilities and consumers to enjoy the affordable and reliable benefits of renewable energy close to where they live.
A 2021 Department of Energy report concluded that by 2050, land equivalent to no more than 0.5 percent of the contiguous United States would be needed for solar growth to meet climate change program goals. That may not seem like much by comparison—farms make up about 40% of all land in the United States—but that would be nearly 9.5 million acres. That's about as good as corn and soybeans grown in Indiana alone.
This federal report says that focusing on "disturbed land" (contaminated or developed sites, such as closed landfills and old parking lots) can help avoid over-reliance on "high-value land currently in use."
But in the Midwest and Corn Belt, the vast majority of usable land that could be used for photovoltaic power generation is agricultural, particularly row crops, Tuinstra said.
take care of the traditionFor some residents of areas where possible conversion of agricultural land is being considered, solar energy is seen as an eyesore and a threat to the crops and agrarian nature of their communities.
By the end of August, the corn was more than seven feet tall around the Palo Community Center in Palo, Iowa. Farmers harvested the crops in the following month more or less as in any normal season.
But this year something else has joined them: the cartels that condemn industrial solar energy. A community center next door was packed with residents awaiting the fate of a proposed 200-megawatt solar plant. The project will be carried out on agricultural land near the city. It is not agrivoltaic, but a more traditional approach where the panels are not based on any culture.
Some participants supported the projects. many have condemned them. Many cited objections to the cessation of farmland production. In the end, the complaints didn't matter. the drafts were approved the following week.
When several panel members asked if stacking solar panels on active farmland might be a viable compromise, many were skeptical.
"I seriously doubt it," said Robert Little, a 74-year-old electrician from the city. He has worked on farms all his life and comes from a family of farmers. Farmers could jeopardize this generational practice, he said.
"The biggest concern would be old family traditions," Little said. "And the other conflict is that I don't think it can work."
Midwestern cities and counties are saying no to solar power, like Indiana, where nearly a third of counties have passed ordinances restricting or even banning renewable energy projects.
better togetherThis skepticism is a great motivator for researchers who believe that agrivoltaics is the correct approach in which everyone wins. Cultures and panels can work together in the same places, discuss instead of compete.
"Solar power wouldn't be as efficient as if agriculture didn't exist and agriculture wouldn't be as efficient as if solar power didn't exist," said Stacey Peterson, who oversees AgriSolar in Montana. Evacuation house. "But together they can still be very important and contribute a lot to achieving all the goals."
But there are unresolved challenges, like shadows from solar panels. This is part of what the Purdue team is investigating, Tuinstra said. The goal is to determine the optimum row spacing to prevent excessive shade from interfering with crop production.
Midwestern farmers may have an advantage over their Southwestern counterparts because solar systems tend to operate more efficiently in less heat-hungry environments, said Dennis Bowman, a digital agriculture specialist at Illinois Extension.
"A cooler environment with plants under the solar panel, which removes moisture and provides a cooling effect, will actually help increase the efficiency of the panels," he said.
The federal program is exploring different types of agrivoltaics in some two dozen projects across the country. Some, like those in the Southwest and Northeast, try to grow a variety of crops, including leafy vegetables and fruits. Small plants, specialty crops like carrots, tomatoes, and berries, do better in an agrivoltaic environment because they take advantage of shade and require smaller equipment to plant and harvest.
Yet professors like Tuinstra at Purdue and Bowman at Illinois want to know if corn and soybeans, which are common in the Midwest, work. At first glance, the probability seems small. planting and harvesting require more sun and more equipment. And farmers in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa grow about 56 million acres of corn and soybeans each year, compared to a few hundred thousand acres of specialty crops.
Some studies try to develop different types of seeds and plants that are better adapted to growing in the sun. And Tuinstra said solar companies are looking for ideas to develop the best systems for customizing planting and harvesting.
However, trying to optimize both crops and technologies places researchers and developers in a chicken-and-egg dilemma; Securing project financing and reducing development costs takes years. proof of its effectiveness. But creating these proofs of concept requires money and access.
"A Different Way of Thinking"Midwest Agrivoltaic Systems and its CEO, Andrew Poor, are looking at developing low-cost solar panel infrastructure known as racks that are taller and wider than conventional panels. The idea is to house row crops and farming tools.
This need for additional materials and special construction is one of the reasons agrivoltaic panels are more expensive than traditional panels, according to Poore.
But there is still no "average" cost for agrivoltaics, Poore says, because so few large-scale projects have been completed in the United States. And now, the growing demand and limited availability of solar panels are also driving up prices.
"It's a Catch-22," Poore said. "I'm always looking for funding.
Poor's is currently working on smaller agrivoltaic projects with partners willing to pay the cost of materials, with the hope of eventually ramping up production as data emerges. But it is difficult to attract development partners in a relatively inexperienced field.
“They seem as cautious as farmers when it comes to signing up for a project,” said Tyler Lloyd, manager of solar operations for Midwest Agrivoltaic Systems.
Not all farmers are against it. Those combined with row crops and livestock have proven more receptive to the idea of agrivoltaics, Bowman said. New farmers who are less tied to traditional farming and harvesting tactics may also be interested in the technology.
“The trend has been to get this big piece of equipment, farm a lot of acres and farm quickly and on time for maximum yield. And that may require a different mindset,” he said, seeing solar power take over conventional farmland.
Sociologists and economists on the Purdue research team discuss concerns about agrivoltaics and how to address them with farmers using the evidence, Tuinstra said.
"If communities are philosophically concerned [and say] 'We don't want to see these images in our area,' that's absolutely true, he said." What the social science and economics groups have to say is, "This is the value of the system, this is what it does for your farms, so it improves the sustainability of those communities. ""
For agrivoltaic to have a place in the hearts of typical farmers and their fields, some attendees at a rally in Palo, Iowa, said they have to see it to believe it.
“There's no way it's going to work. Absolutely not," said Doug Hanover, 62, a carpenter who started working on the farm as a teenager. "I wish it would be tried."
Tuinstra said, "This is how we do it."
"Secret Recipe for the Midwest"As the data mounts, Purdue graduate student Varsha Gupta predicts this solar approach should be ready for large-scale implementation within a decade or two.
"No one studies it like that because these plants are considered a gimmick and people think it's not possible," Gupta said. "But if we can optimize crops like corn and soybeans, then we can make agrivoltaics out of anything."
While farming may be the ultimate goal, meanwhile, solar projects and farmers in the Midwest and Indiana are taking baby steps when it comes to agribusiness.
The Mammoth Solar Project in northwest Indiana, just an hour from Purdue Research Field, was the largest solar park in the country at 13,000 acres when it was announced last year. According to Nick Cohen, president and CEO of Doral Renewables, the project's developer, the project currently under construction is not designed for row crops.
Extending the rows of solar panels by just five feet to accommodate larger units would require about 200 more acres to produce the same electrical capacity, he said. Or for the same reason, raising all the cables one meter would cost another 9 million dollars.
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For this reason, Cohen said, the project had to focus on crops from the start. Instead, his company is looking at other ways to incorporate agrivoltaics under and around the giant panels.
“The challenge now is finding that value, and not just dollar value, but that secret sauce for the Midwest,” he said.
Doral is exploring how to do just that. For example, they plan to plant smaller crops like blueberries under giant panels. Some of the local farmers who rent their land also plant sweet corn and popcorn in the buffer zones around the solar park, which are usually left open.
In other areas they will plant pollinating species under the panels, although it is not a profitable crop, it still has environmental benefits, he said. Cohen said they are also considering allowing sheep to graze in some areas of the solar project.
Pollinating plants and sheep are "very useful for a solar program because it's a good way to manage vegetation," he said.
It is also good for farmers. Greg Gunthorpe, a farmer with a herd of sheep in northeastern Indiana, says he's delighted to be able to graze under the solar panels. He said he is in talks with partners about various projects in the region.
He sees this as a win-win situation.
"Sheep don't damage the system. They don't jump on plates or chew on string," says Gunthorpe, who currently has 500 to 600 sheep. "And the big advantage for us is access to affordable land, which is a real challenge."
While agribusiness and sheep herding in the region are still in their infancy, Gunthorpe said he thinks the potential is huge. He said they hope to have sheep grazing on solar farms next spring and hope to expand to 2,000 sheep by 2025.
Cohen agrees that it is only a matter of time. “If you think about the importance of agriculture, it is important, incredibly important. People feel better when we use as much land as possible.
This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent editorial reporting network founded in partnership with Report For America at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and funded by the Walton Family Foundation.
Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook @IndyStarSarah. Join the IndyStar environmental journalists. Sign up for Scrub on Facebook.
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