Could solar panels be integrated into farms instead of taking acreage out of commission?
Some hope to overcome resistance in Midwest by saying solar fields and farm fields can co-exist.
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Some hope to overcome resistance in Midwest by saying solar fields and farm fields can co-exist.
Much Midwest land that could be used for solar power is tied up in row crops. Researchers are examining how to build solar panels without taking out cropland.
Farmland is well suited for solar development of all kinds, for the same reasons it’s good for growing crops – it’s largely flat, drains well and gets lots of sun.
Rural communities across the Corn Belt are skeptical about solar taking up farmland. Research is working on how to grow crops and solar together.
Pamplin Media Group January 26 2021 Oregon State University research shows that farm-operated solar arrays could provide 20% of the country's energy needs. A study by Oregon State University researchers has determined that working farms that also host solar facilities could satisfy 20% of the future electricity demand in the United States, all at a cost that is a fraction of the country's annual budget. Solar photovoltaic power generation in concert with agriculture, termed "agrivoltaics" by the researchers, could also lead to a reduction of 330,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions â...